Etan Thomas underwent open-heart surgery Thursday, and all his Washington Wizards teammates could do was wait, pray and hope for the best.

The 29-year-old center was at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota for an operation to repair a leak of the aortic valve, an irregularity discovered during a routine physical before the Oct. 2 start of training camp. The Wizards were expected to make a statement later Thursday, and the doctor and team president Ernie Grunfeld were expected to comment on Friday.

"Hopefully they can correct the problem," forward Antawn Jamison said following the team's practice. "We know how much he loves the game of basketball and what he means to this team, but the most important thing -- you just hope that the surgery goes well."