Marcin Gortat will not be with the Washington Wizards for at least the next two games, according to two reports from outlets in his native Poland and Jorge Castillo of the Washington Post.
Paweł Żuchowski, a Washington correspondent for Polish radio station RMF FM, was the first to report Gortat would miss time:
M.Gortat nie zagra kilku najbliższych spotkań z drużyną Washington Wizards.Jak mi powiedział z powodów prywatnych leci do Polski. @RMF24pl
— Paweł Żuchowski (@p_zuchowski) December 3, 2015
For those of you who don't speak Polish, Bartosz Bielecki has a translation:
Marcin Gortat will miss some of the upcoming games as he's traveling to Poland (personal reasons) via @rmf_fm
— Bartosz Bielecki (@bart__92) December 3, 2015
So what's the personal reason? According to Łukasz Cegliński of Sport.pl, Gortat is heading back home to be with his mother, who was recently hospitalized:
RE: Gortat missing upcoming games - according to @cegieu - Gortat's mother is being hospitalized. No info on how many games Marcin will miss
— Bartosz Bielecki (@bart__92) December 3, 2015
This isn't the first we've heard of Marcin Gortat's mother dealing with health issues. John Wall said it was weighing on Gortat after Tuesday's game in Cleveland.
John Wall said it was a tough day for Marcin Gortat b/c his mom got sick. Hope all is OK.
— Kyle Weidie (@Truth_About_It) December 2, 2015
Obviously, this has to be a serious issue for Gortat to take time off during the season to fly overseas and be with his mother. Some things are bigger than basketball, and hopefully Gortat takes all the time he needs to be there for his family during this situation.
In the meantime, this is another rough blow for the Wizards' frontcourt, who are already dealing with injuries to Nene and Drew Gooden. With Gortat out, the only healthy centers on the roster are Ryan Hollins and DeJuan Blair, which means we'll probably see even more of Randy Wittman experimenting with Kris Humphries and even Jared Dudley at center with Gortat out.