Utah center Mehmet Okur is returning to his home country of Turkey to deal with an illness in his family.

The Jazz said Monday they have excused Okur so he can be with his family. No other details were released.

Okur is Utah's second-leading scorer at 15.5 points per game and has been averaging 6.5 rebounds for the Jazz.

(Xinhua News Agency November 11, 2008)