Lauren Holiday, a former player on the United States women’s soccer team, wrote an emotional message after her husband, NBA champion Jrue Holiday, was unexpectedly traded from the Milwaukee Bucks to the Boston Celtics this week.
The lengthy post by Lauren, 36, exposes the way athletes’ families are often affected by the sudden uprooting of their lives.
The two-time Olympic gold medalist wrote: “Wednesday my husband took a nap. Woke up to the news that he was transferred. No warning, no warning, not even a conversation that this might be a possibility. Just, it’s over. Now go on because ’tis not personally, it’s work.’ ”
“I thought about writing anything,” Lauren admitted in her post. “But being vulnerable helps me heal. This isn’t new. We’ve changed before. Each time we’ve felt something different, but this time it crushed me.”
The mother of two said their children, Jrue Tyler (JT) and Hendrix, had just started their first semesters of school when the trade happened. “Our kids go to school with the other Bucks kids. Their dads accompany them and go out together,” she wrote.
Jrue and Lauren Holiday take a selfie with their children.
Jrue Holiday Instagram
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Lauren said she also developed close friendships with other women married to Bucks players. “The other women on Bucks have been my workout partners, my confidants and my support system. We’ve had Bible studies, retreats and shared so many laughs and tears,” she explained, before adding, “This is all about us personally. It’s our life. None of that has anything to do with it.”
The retired football star wanted to make it clear that he was not speaking publicly about the situation “to say we are entitled to anything”, but to raise awareness of the uncertainty of life as a professional athlete, especially those who are also parents. “Imagine if we didn’t just put dollar signs on the athletes,” she wrote. “Imagine if we invested in them as people, as incredible forces of good.”
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Jrue and Lauren Holiday photographed at the 2023 ESPYS.
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Lauren explained: “I share this to say that we are human beings whose children develop friendships with other children in our community, we are people who value family and friendships and invest in the cities they play in. We don’t just take from the city we play in we give to the city where we play and we give our best.”
Concluding the post, Lauren said that she and her family “mourn” the lives they had in Milwaukee, but at the same time “celebrate the hope and joy of what lies ahead” as Jrue joins the Boston Celtics. “Growth is about allowing ourselves to feel this pain now and turning it into strength for how we move forward. This is who we are and this is who we will always be,” she shared.
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Jrue Holiday, daughter JT and wife Lauren Holiday during the 2019 NBA Summer League.
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The emotional message was met with support from her friends, family and NBA fans. Mariah Riddlespringer — whose fiancé, Giannis Antetokounmpo, won an NBA championship with Jrue in 2021 — commented, “I love my vulnerability and I love you more!! Thank you for sharing this with Lauren.”
Morgan Reid — also a retired football player who married former Buck player Grayson Allen last summer — said she and her husband “feel it, too” after he was part of the trade package that sent Jrue to Boston. Allen (27) was traded to the Phoenix Suns from Milwaukee.
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Source: HIS Education