Alonzo Mourning

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Alonzo Mourning bigraphy, stories - Basketball player

Alonzo Mourning : biography

February 8, 1970 –

Alonzo Harding Mourning, Jr. (born February 8, 1970) is an American former professional basketball player, who played most of his 15-year NBA career for the Miami Heat.

Nicknamed "Zo", Mourning played at center. His tenacity on defense twice earned him NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award and perennially placed him on the NBA All-Defensive Team. He made a comeback after undergoing a kidney transplant and later won the 2006 NBA Championship with the Heat. He has also played for the Charlotte Hornets and New Jersey Nets. On March 30, 2009, Mourning became the first Miami Heat player to have his number retired. Since June 26, 2009, Mourning has served as Vice President of Player Programs and Development for the Heat.

Basketball career

Early career

During his time at Indian River High School in Chesapeake, Virginia, he led the team to 51 straight victories and a state title his junior year (1987). As a senior he averaged 25 points, 15 rebounds and 12 blocked shots a game. He was named Player of the Year by USA Today, Parade, Gatorade, and Naismith. Mourning played college basketball for the Georgetown University Hoyas. He led the nation in blocked shots his freshman year and was an All-American his last year there.

Charlotte Hornets

Mourning was selected second overall in the 1992 NBA Draft by the Charlotte Hornets, behind Shaquille O’Neal. Mourning was named to the league’s all-rookie team in 1993 after averaging 21.0 pts, 10.3 rebounds, and 3.47 blocks. He finished second to Shaquille O’Neal in rookie of the year voting. He posted the highest scoring average of any rookie in Hornets history. Mourning and O’Neal were the first NBA rookies since David Robinson in 1989–90 to average 20 or more points and 10-plus rebounds in their first seasons. Mourning shattered Charlotte’s blocked-shots records, becoming the Hornets’ all-time career leader in the 49th game of the season. The greatest moment of Mourning’s rookie season came on May 5, 1993 in Game 4 of a first-round playoff series against the Boston Celtics. His 20-footer at the buzzer gave the Hornets a 104–103 victory in the game and a three-games-to-one victory in the series.

In the 1994–95 season, Mourning and teammate Larry Johnson led the Hornets to a 50-win season and took them to the playoffs. Mourning ranked first on the team in scoring (21.3 ppg), rebounding (9.9 rpg), blocked shots (2.92 per game), and field goal percentage (.519).

Miami Heat

Friction with Johnson and contract issues forced a change, so after three years in Charlotte, he was traded to the Miami Heat. He played for the Heat for seven seasons, signing a $105 million contract with the team in 1996. He was the centerpiece of the Pat Riley-coached Heat, averaging close to 20 points and 10 rebounds per game, and dominating the paint with his intimidating shot-blocking. He won the NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award twice during this period and was named into the All-NBA First Team after leading the Heat in scoring (20.1 ppg), field-goal percentage (.511), rebounds (11.0), blocked shots (3.9) during the 1998–99 NBA season. He and Tim Hardaway led the Heat into the 1997 playoffs, where the rivalry between the Heat and the New York Knicks intensified. The Heat and Knicks faced off in the conference semifinals that year and the Knicks led 3 games to 1, but the Heat were able to overcome the deficit and win the series to advance to their first conference finals. The series was marked by a brawl in the fifth game in which multiple suspensions were handed down.

In the next round with the Heat down 3–0 to the Chicago Bulls in the Eastern Conference Finals, Mourning guaranteed a victory in Game 4. The Heat won the Game 87–80 but lost the series in five games. The next season, Miami would be eliminated in the first round by the Knicks, a series in which Mourning was suspended for the 5th and deciding game due to an on-court fight with ex-teammate Larry Johnson, and Knicks Head Coach Jeff Van Gundy hung onto Mourning’s leg in an attempt to break it up. Miami would also be eliminated by the Knicks in the playoffs the following two seasons.