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Per Paul Coro of azcentral.com and the Arizona Republic, backup center Jermaine O'Neal will miss time to be with his daughter while she has heart surgery.
Asjia will undergo surgery to repair a leaky heart valve Wednesday in Boston. O'Neal already feels guilty that he will miss her pre-operation hospital routine while he has one last Suns practice Tuesday.
He told his teammates that he will miss three games but his return will be up to his daughter, just as she and his son, Jermaine Jr., will decide whether he returns for an 18th season next year. O'Neal said Suns interim head coach Lindsey Hunter asked him about playing two more seasons.
O'Neal has been playing his best basketball in years lately, all while knowing his daughter was scheduled to go under the knife soon. He's just been trying to get it all in before taking time off to be with her.
Without O'Neal, the Suns will have to play Marcin Gortat more minutes and slide Markieff Morris and Luis Scola into the pivot more often.
The Suns may also get a chance to play deadline day acquisition Hamed Haddadi, who has not played live NBA basketball in months. He was traded to Toronto in the Rudy Gay trade in January but never joined the team due to visa issues.
Now, he might get a chance to play against Toronto, the Suns next opponent.