I really want to write about the Pistons "we-ain’t done yet" statement victory, and Chauncey Billups’ savvy veteran move to beat the Celtics in Boston. You know, that I want to discuss the Suns-Mavs duel where Dirk closed the show in style, or Rudy Gay’s 3-point buzzer beater upset of the Spurs. And surely, I want to write about my Knicks blowout win tonight from a fan’s perspective, a feeling that only the Miami Dolphins team could truly understand. But all that will have to take second fiddle status to a very sad day in basketball: an injury that will most likely spell the end of Alonzo Mourning’s determined and resilient career.
ESPN reports: Mourning tore his patellar tendon in his right knee, was placed on the stretcher, but he refused the ride. He said: "That’s not the way I envisioned myself walking off the court for the last time in my career," … "I’ve been through so much in my life. If I had to crawl off the court I would have. Nobody was going to push me off on a stretcher off the court. That wasn’t going to happen."
Mourning is a seven-time All-Star, two-time defensive player of the year, and a player whose nightly effort was unsurpassed. Any basketball fan who had the pleasure to witness the Knicks vs. Miami playoff wars in the late 1990′s has an incredible admiration for Mourning’s intensity, passion, and determination. He said: "Each of you here know I’ve been through a whole lot worse than this," … "It’s disappointing to even think that my career would end this way, but there are so many other things that life has to offer for me. I have a great family and I have so many other opportunities out there."
If anyone would know it is Alonzo Mourning. He understands how precious life is because he already survived a kidney transplant before returning to the NBA. And there are few athletes on the planet who make more positive contributions beyond basketball than Alonzo Mourning. He is one of this author’s favorite athletes in all of sports, and it is not just because we resemble each other when we "flex our guns". StopMikeLupica is one of my favorite sites because it routinely gives us the skinny on some of these unreported contribtions of athletes. In this summer post, he is able to look past his on-court enemy to reminds us that:
"Alonzo Mourning donated his entire Heat salary ($300,000) in 2004 to organizations that "promote literacy and education for poor youth". He also donated money to charities that "provide food to poor kidney dialysis patients", a topic near to his heart, of course. But he first started his foundation (Alonzo Mourning Charities) in 1997, soon after signing that huge $105 million dollar contract with the Heat, and before any of his kidney problems. The foundation does a lot of work in the Miami/South Florida area, as well as New Jersey (where he played with the Nets for a small bit), and in Virginia, where he is from originally (Chesapeake, VA, per Wikipedia). His foundation has donated or raised more than $6 million for local charities, including Miami’s Children’s Home Society, the Overtown Youth Center, and 100 Black Men of South Florida (a mentorship program for kids) over the past 10 years."
and,
"The Summer Groove is an event that Zo has done for like 11 years now. In 2002, the Professional Basketball Writers Association named Zo their J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award winner, which honors community service. Previous winners include Magic Johnson, Isiah Thomas, Doc Rivers, Dr. J, Joe Dumars, Vlade Divac, Dikembe Mutumbo and Chris "Free Throw Clinic" Dudley. Mourning won this award after he had created "Zo’s Fund For Life", another organization that raises money for the Glomerular Institue at Columbia University (a leading center for research on kidney diseases). Glomeruloscleroscis is the most common cause of kidney disease among African-Americans – Zo raised $2 million dollars for that cause. Mourning has also made individual donations to people who cannot afford medicines."
‘Zo’s career looks like it has come to an end, but don’t be surprised if you see a one game comeback at the end of the season where he REALLY walks off the court on his own terms. As for next year, if Mourning has more time to do some of the things off the court that he has always done, than this world will be a better place. However, despite being a Knick fan and bitter rival, one of the only sports privileges that I’ve ever had greater than witnessing how hard Mourning plays on the court is to learn just how much the man cares about people off-the-court. Congratulations on a great career.
I’ll miss Mourning, too. I, too, despised him and the Heat during the rivalry days, but respect him as a person who is trying to make a difference, however small or large.
And, in a fitting way, he shook off the stretcher, and chose to leave the court one last time while on his feet. The next time he’ll be on the court it be so the fans could salute him, I’m sure.
No doubt I hated Mourning back inna day the same way that the media hates Isiah Thomas today. In other words, I was an ignorant tool, same as many so-called “Knicks fans” today.
But as I matured, I saw the MAN that Alonzo Mourning was and is.
Couldn’t do nuthin but praise him after that.
I’m not sad to see him go out like this. Not after the way he shook off that stretcher. That was an ol Nat Turner/John Brown lick, right there! As far as I’m concerned, he absolutely DID go out on his own terms.
Respect.
LP, you make an excellent point! Mybe he went out exactly the way a warrior should. I stand corrected.
Though the beat of NYC pounds in me daily, I have lived in DC for 25 years now, and I remember seeing Alonzo Mourning as a young HS PUP, and I remember Coach JT Jr. telling me, Gene Smith, and Kenny Brown, that he would grow to be a great BBALL Player and Human Being. He never forgot his humble beginnings and he has done much for those who have so little.
It is unfortunate his career will most likely end on this sour note, but Alonzo is Warrior and will always be in my eyes. He kept the Georgtown Big Man Tradition alive and always reached back to help the players that followed behind him. Just ask Roy Hibbert, I know he’s got a few stories for you.
God bless Alonzo and get well and heal soon…….