Welcome to LWOS Basketball department “NBA Time Traveler Series,” the column that imagines which retired player from an NBA franchise one would most want to travel back in time to see them play again in their prime. The LWOS Basketball department will review each of the 30 NBA franchises and which retired player would be their “NBA Time Traveler Player.”
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LWOS NBA TIME TRAVELER SERIES: MIAMI HEAT’S ALONZO MOURNING
This installment in our NBA Time Traveler Series will focus on the Miami Heat franchise. The selection is Alonzo Mourning, who was the heart and soul of the Heat before Dwayne Wade made the team, and the City of Miami, his. To most NBA fans, the Miami Heat franchise is most defined by what has happened after LeBron James made his decision to come to South Beach. But before James there was Wade, and before Wade, there was Mourning.
After being traded from the Charlotte Hornets to the Miami Heat in 1995, Mourning averaged 23.2 points, 10.4 rebounds, and 2.7 blocks a game in his first season leading the Heat to the playoffs. Mourning was immediately the franchise player, leading his team to the playoffs in his first year and making the 1996 NBA All-Star game as a representative from the Eastern Conference.
Mourning made five All-Star rosters as a member of the Miami Heat and was named Defensive Player of the Year twice. Mourning is the franchise’s record holder of blocks (1,625), blocks per game (2.7), blocks per game over a single season (3.9), blocks in a single season (294), blocks in a single game (9) and blocks in a playoff game (9). In his free time he won a gold medal with the United States at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, Australia.
More importantly, Alonzo Mourning battled kidney disease throughout his career and still managed to play well enough to be a participant in the 2002 NBA All-Star game after being diagnosed the previous year. Due to his medical condition he was forced to miss the first five months of the season and only played 13 games of the 2000-01 season. His condition took a turn for the worse and he did not play the entire 2002-03 season.
Miami choose not to resign him that season, but after a short stint with the New Jersey Nets and a trade to the Toronto Raptors (which he never reported to), Alonzo resigned with the Miami Heat in 2005. In 2006 Mourning served as the primary backup to Shaquille O’Neal and helped lead the Miami Heat to their first NBA Finals in franchise history. The highlight moment for Mourning came in Game 6 of the Finals when he came off the bench to record a team-high five blocks to help Miami win their first NBA Championship after being down 0-2 to the Dallas Mavericks.
Any young player should look to emulate “Zo”. He was the franchise player of the Miami Heat for years and decided to sacrifice personal stats for team success. Not many All-Stars would willingly decide to be a backup on a team that they helped build up from a new franchise into a playoff team. His sacrifice and inspiration undoubtedly contributed to the success of the 2006 championship team.
On January 22, 2009 Mourning announced his retirement from the NBA. Alonzo was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame on August 8, 2014 and Miami gave him the honor of being the first Heat player to have his number 33 jersey retired. Mourning continues to give back to the Miami Heat as the Vice President of Player Programs, he continues to help develop young players as a professional on and off the court. It would be an honor to go back in time and watch Alonzo dominate on the court and overcome his health issues off the court, while being rewarded with the ultimate prize, a NBA Championship.
