\n" ); document.write( " The Back Page
\n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( " June 8, 2006
\n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( " Alonzo Mourning - Never \n" ); document.write( " Lost Hope
\n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( " As the Miami Heat prepare for their first ever trip to the \n" ); document.write( " NBA Finals, which begins Thursday night, the same can be said for Heat \n" ); document.write( " reserve Alonzo “Zo” Mourning. It seems that Mourning has been around the \n" ); document.write( " game longer than his 13-years, but few realize that at one point his career \n" ); document.write( " was in jeopardy.
\n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( " Mourning \n" ); document.write( " spent his first eight \n" ); document.write( " years as a 20-point, 10-rebound center with the Charlotte Hornets and the \n" ); document.write( " Heat, but suffered a number of crushing playoff exits without moving on to \n" ); document.write( " play for a championship. He moved around after leaving the Heat in 2003, \n" ); document.write( " heading to New Jersey and later Toronto – but there would always be a spot \n" ); document.write( " in his heart for Miami.
\n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( " When it came to \n" ); document.write( " playing for a championship, Mourning and his followers never thought it \n" ); document.write( " would happen. He was no longer a dominate player, no longer was he one of \n" ); document.write( " the NBA’s most intimidating defensive enforcers. Alonzo Mourning saw his \n" ); document.write( " career fall right in front him when he endured a public battle with a kidney \n" ); document.write( " disease and subsequent transplant. Alonzo Mourning was now just another \n" ); document.write( " fallen NBA star, relinquished to the bench and used in only in certain \n" ); document.write( " situations.
\n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( " Mourning though \n" ); document.write( " wouldn’t give up, despite the medical setbacks and the frustrations of not \n" ); document.write( " being able to suit up for most or all of the past three seasons, Mourning \n" ); document.write( " gave it his all… through all the blood, sweat and tears “Zo” fought hard to \n" ); document.write( " get where he is today.
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document.write( " Alonzo Mourning chats \n" ); document.write( " with the media after the Heat's shoot-around | \n" );
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![](\"http://www.sportznutz.com/columns/back_page/images/mourning_06.jpg\")
\n" ); document.write( " In October 2000 as a \n" ); document.write( " member of the Heat, Mourning was diagnosed with a kidney ailment… in the \n" ); document.write( " prime of his career, and nearing the end of a very lucrative contract, \n" ); document.write( " Mourning would miss the entire season, with the exception of the final \n" ); document.write( " 13-games that he season. Miami would enter the playoffs, but would suffer \n" ); document.write( " three straight blowout losses to Charlotte in the first round.
\n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( " Mourning returned for \n" ); document.write( " the 2001-2002 season, hardly contributing in the fashion that the Heat and \n" ); document.write( " or he (Mourning) expected… Pain was the daily word for “Zo” and by season’s \n" ); document.write( " end it was for the Heat as they fell to 36-46. When training camp opened \n" ); document.write( " for the 2002-2003 season, Mourning wasn’t there. He had a setback in with \n" ); document.write( " his kidney disease and would need to sit out the entire season – the final \n" ); document.write( " year of his contract with Miami. Although Miami offered him a minimum \n" ); document.write( " contract during the summer of 2003, Mourning instead accepted a 4-year, \n" ); document.write( " $23-million offer from the New Jersey Nets.
\n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( " The Nets felt that \n" ); document.write( " Mourning’s illness was behind him and he was on the road to a full recovery, \n" ); document.write( " and as well having him aboard would be an incentive for Jason Kidd to \n" ); document.write( " re-sign. Kidd would go on to re-sign with the Nets, but Mourning’s return \n" ); document.write( " was short lived. After just 10-games Mourning was out of the lineup, off \n" ); document.write( " the court now laying in a hospital bed awaiting a kidney transplant.
\n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( " Mourning missed the \n" ); document.write( " remainder of the 2003-2004 season, but returned early in the 2004-2005 \n" ); document.write( " season… life in New Jersey was bad. What was thought to be a great move for \n" ); document.write( " the Nets, and for Mourning turned into one of the worst moves Mourning and \n" ); document.write( " or the Nets had ever made. Instead of a rags to riches story, it was a rich \n" ); document.write( " to rags story. As life in New Jersey continued to spiral down for “Zo” the \n" ); document.write( " Nets finally decided to trade him to Toronto.
\n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( " Mourning never \n" ); document.write( " reported to the Raptors… he requested a buyout, which went on for sometime \n" ); document.write( " before Toronto agreed – this move allowed Mourning to return to the Heat.
\n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( " Mourning returned in \n" ); document.write( " time for the Heats’ playoff run, after missing the final four weeks of the \n" ); document.write( " season and the first two playoff games (with a partially torn calf) – but \n" ); document.write( " the opportunity for a championship came to a halt in Game 7 of the \n" ); document.write( " Conference Championship game when the Pistons sent the Heat packing. \n" ); document.write( "
\n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( " Alonzo Mourning \n" ); document.write( " thought of retirement last summer, but in the back of his mind he knew that \n" ); document.write( " there remained an opportunity at least one last chance at a championship. “That was always a part of my mind-set,\n" ); document.write( " this was a time in my career where I didn’t want to waste an opportunity. \n" ); document.write( " I wanted to play in a situation where I was going to win a championship.”
\n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( " That time has come… \n" ); document.write( " though he wishes he could play more and get the ball more often, he’s doing \n" ); document.write( " just what the Heat have asked him to do and doesn’t dwell on it. His return \n" ); document.write( " to the Heat has been a boost, and no one more than Coach Pat Reilly would \n" ); document.write( " like to see “Zo” get that championship.
\n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( " “It’s an incredible \n" ); document.write( " feeling,” \n" ); document.write( " Mourning said after the Heat beat the Pistons 95-78. “When you think \n" ); document.write( " about 13 years of, literally, a lot of blood, a lot of sweat, a lot of ups \n" ); document.write( " and a lot of downs, and just so many disappointments year after year, it \n" ); document.write( " just makes you appreciate this moment even more.”
\n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( " He is a fan favorite in Miami, where he receives an \n" ); document.write( " explosion of cheers every time he walks to the scorer’s table. He is loved, \n" ); document.write( " despite his limited role, because he’s outspoken, he still is one of the \n" ); document.write( " NBA’s top defenders (2.66 blocks per game this year) and he helped bring \n" ); document.write( " winning basketball to the Heat. Plus, he’s shown the ability to come back.
\n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( " Beginning Thursday \n" ); document.write( " night, Alonzo Mourning begins his quest for his first ever NBA Championship…\n" ); document.write( " “I had my doubts, but I never lost hope. The hope and the drive was \n" ); document.write( " always there.”
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document.write( " If\n" ); document.write( " you have or know a sports hero, an athlete that has overcome degrees of difficulties in\n" ); document.write( " their personal life, or about an athlete that have conquered their sport thru adversity,\n" ); document.write( " send an email to: aip@nutzworld.com\n" ); document.write( " with your story, for an opportunity on “The Back Page.” | \n" );
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