After the Miami Heat won the 2006 title, Alonzo Mourning could have retired with a storybook ending after 13 seasons. Instead, the kidney-transplant survivor kept his job with the Heat for a shot at repeating, while confident his storybook ending will be there when he finally calls it quits.
“It’s etched in stone. It’s still storybook,” Mourning said. “I could’ve wrote my last chapter with that one. But I know I’m still capable, God willing, to play another one, two more years and give good minutes.”
The Heat is happy Mourning has that attitude. He has had to replace center Shaquille O’Neal, who is out indefinitely after knee surgery. Tonight, Mourning and the struggling Heat visit Denver.
From 1992-2000, Mourning, the second overall pick in the 1992 draft, averaged no fewer than 19 points and 9.5 rebounds every season. The 6-foot-10, 261-pounder entered Thursday third in the league in blocks per game (2.65) while also averaging 8.6 points and 5.5 rebounds. While the muscular Mourning isn’t as dominant as he once was, he’s still a threat in the lane.
“Knowing that (Mourning) is still there, it might be a little bit harder (than O’Neal), because he is concentrating more on the defensive end,” Atlanta center Lorenzen Wright said.
Said Nuggets coach George Karl: “He wasn’t just a physical specimen. He beat you because he came to work. He’s going to destroy you. We need that in the game of basketball more. (Despite) all the spin, PR firms and publicity, hard work is the reason you love this game.
“People can see intensity and passion right in front of their eyes. Alonzo was a poster-boy player for attitude and intensity.”
Mourning is also a poster boy for those needing inspiration to overcome a kidney transplant.
The two-time defensive player of the year’s career was placed on the Heat’s injured list on Oct. 28, 2002, and missed the entire season with focal glomerulosclerosis. After receiving a kidney transplant on Dec. 19, 2003, he played 12 games for New Jersey in the 2003-04 season and re-joined Miami on March 1, 2005.
“I’m in great shape, man,” Mourning, 36, said. “I don’t want to turn 50, 55 and look back and say, ‘Man, when I was 36 I could’ve played two more years.’ So I got that opportunity now. I went through a whole lot. Physically I went through a whole lot, and mentally, to get back in a position to play ball. I’m just not going to give up on that now.”
The Spurs pursued Mourning in the offseason, but his love for the Heat and a chance to defend the title led him to re-sign with a two-year, $5.2 million contract instead of taking a more lucrative offer with San Antonio.
“It wasn’t even about the money,” Mourning said. “If it was about that, I would have left. It was about the fans. It was about the Heat. It was about (Heat owner) Mickey Arison. It was about (coach) Pat (Riley).”
Alonzo Mourning Charities has raised more than $6 million in cash and economic benefits the past 10 years. He has helped raise $4 million for kidney research and has won numerous national awards for his humanitarianism.
Said O’Neal: “He promised me he would come back and defend. We want to stay together and leave together and get our jerseys retired together.”
