From Deseret News archives:
Utah Jazz: With his father in failing health, Okur remains in Turkey
Okur left the Jazz's team hotel in Philadelphia and was taken by car to New York on Monday so he could catch a flight to his native Turkey and be with his ailing father Abdullah.
According his personal Web site, www.memo13.com, Okur "arrived at (an Istanbul) hospital and immediately was given approval to visit his father Abdullah in intensive care.
"During his first visit ... his father did not gain consciousness and Memo was not able to communicate at all."
Abdullah Okur has had two cancer-related operations in the last five years, one to remove part of his lung and another about seven months later to remove a brain tumor. He also experienced an epileptic attack, attributed to air-pressure changes, on a return flight from Salt Lake City two years ago.
Abdullah Okur subsequently has had similar attacks, the most recent of which, according to the Web site, occurred about two weeks ago and was the most severe to date.
He has endured lengthy bouts of unconsciousness since and, according to the Web site, has been diagnosed with "aspiration pneumonia secondary to dysphagia."
Mehmet Okur, the site statement said, "thanks all of the thousands of Utah Jazz and Turkish basketball fans who have forwarded their well wishes for him and his family to memo13.com. He also thanks the entire Jazz family for their understanding and support during this very difficult time for his family."
There is no word on when Okur will rejoin the team.
With veteran big man Jarron Collins still bothered by elbow issues and would-be replacement starter Kyrylo Fesenko still unavailable due to visa issues, rookie Kosta Koufos is expected to make a second straight start at center.
Point guard Deron Williams, who returned for Tuesday's win at Philadelphia after missing the season's first six games due to a sprained left ankle, hopes to play tonight, but is being called a "game-time decision" by the team.
Also listed as a game-time decision is veteran forward Matt Harpring, who has been inactive for the season's first seven games due to rehab for his surgically repaired and subsequently infected ankle.
E-mail: tbuckley@desnews.com
