CLEVELAND -- In the brief moments after the Cavaliers and Pelicans took the floor Monday night and before their game tipped off, LeBron James approached Jrue Holiday to offer him words of encouragement and tap him on the chest, acknowledging the point guard's off-court struggles.
Holiday's wife, former U.S. women's national soccer team player Lauren Holiday, underwent brain surgery in October to have a benign tumor removed. Just weeks prior to the procedure, she gave birth to the couple's first child, Jrue Tyler Holiday, a daughter. Jrue Holiday took a leave of absence from the Pelicans to be with his family at the time.