Jermaine O'Neal out for Suns vs. Kings, gets heated with GM Lance Blanks

Jermaine O'Neal is out with an unstated medical condition. (Christian Petersen/Getty Images)

Veteran center Jermaine O'Neal will not accompany the Phoenix Suns for their upcoming road trip and missed practice on Tuesday because of a medical condition that's being kept under wraps by the team.

According to tweets on Tuesday afternoon from Paul Coro, Suns beat reporter for the Arizona Republic, O'Neal will not travel to Sacramento for the Suns game against the Kings on Wednesday night because of the medical condition.

Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports tweeted Tuesday afternoon that O'Neal and Suns general manager Lance Blanks engaged in an "expletive-laced confrontation on Monday," though it's unconfirmed whether that incident is at all tied to the decision for O'Neal to miss the road trip to Sacramento. A 17 year veteran, the oft-injured O'Neal is averaging 6.4 points, 4.1 rebounds and 1.2 blocks in 15 minutes per game this season.

The Suns, currently the third worst team in the league with a record of 13-28, parted ways with head coach Alvin Gentry last week. Former NBA player Lindsey Hunter, who was the player development director under Gentry, has been named the interim head coach. But Hunter is already adding to a disappointing season with an off-the-court issue; according to a report from SBNation, Hunter is part of an ongoing FBI investigation into mortgage fraud.

https://twitter.com/paulcoro/status/293806330798542848