(Popeye Jones works with Lance Stephenson during a practice last season.)
It seemed odd that Pacers assistant coach Popeye Jones hasn’t been visible recently as the team had media availability. Turns out, Jones, a tireless worker is in the hospital, but doing well.
“He had a little flutter with his heart,” Dan Burke, the team’s longtime assistant said Wednesday. “He’s OK. He got it taken care of. We’ll see him tonight or tomorrow morning. Wish him the best but we miss him.”
“It’s been about a week or two,” he added.
An atrial flutter is a common abnormal heart rhythm, according to the Heart Rhythm Society. “The upper chambers (atria) of the heart beat too fast, which results in atrial muscle contractions that are faster than and out of sync with the lower chambers (ventricles).”
Basketball is constantly on the mind of Jones. With no family by his side in Indy, he spends most of his time reviewing film and getting prepared for whatever is next.
“I think I’m almost like constantly working, so I don’t call it work,” Jones told me earlier this year. “It’s not work to me.”
Hopefully Popeye is soon back out on the court doing what he loves.