In the end, Alonzo Mourning chose his health rather than another comeback, and the seven-time All-Star center officially retired on Thursday.
“That’s what it’s all about, it’s my health,” Mourning said during a press conference at Miami’s American Airlines Arena. “My health is more important than anything.”
“So many of us take it for granted, underestimate it until something seriously happens to us. I’ve gone down with something seriously physically happening to me, and I can surely appreciate my health at this particular state that I’m in right now,” he said.
Mourning has not played since suffering a torn patella tendon in his right knee and a torn quadriceps in the same leg during a game against Atlanta on Dec. 19, 2007.
“I’m able to walk, I’m able to run, and I’m able to chase after my kids without a limp,” he said. “God willing, I’ll be able to live another 40 or 50 years, and I want to do it in a comfortable state. Right now I’m there.”
A former two-time NBA defensive player of the year, Mourning, widely respected for his extensive charity and community work, was forced out of the game in 2003 when he had to undergo a kidney transplant.
However, he surprised and encouraged many when he made a comeback.
Mourning was diagnosed with a serious kidney disease in 2000 and as his condition worsened he missed the 2002-2003 season.
With Miami not renewing his contract he became a free agent and signed for the New Jersey Nets before his illness forced his retirement in November 2003.
He received a replacement kidney from his cousin and after the transplant attempted to come back with the Nets but found his chances limited.
Mourning then headed back to Miami and helped the team to the 2006 title.
Mourning was rumored to be attempting another return but doctors told the 38-year-old that he would not be able to recover from the devastating knee injury.
During his 15 NBA seasons, Mourning, the second overall pick in the 1992 draft, averaged 17.1 points, 8.5 rebounds, and 2.81 blocks, while shooting 52.7 per cent from the floor in 838 games with the Heat, Charlotte Hornets and New Jersey Nets.
Mourning was also a member of the gold medal-winning US Olympic team in 2000 and is tipped to be a future Hall of Fame member.
Shohei Ohtani and Clayton Kershaw on Friday joined their Los Angeles Dodgers teammates in sticking their fists out to show off their glittering World Series rings at a ceremony. “There’s just a lot of excitement, probably more than I can ever recall with the Dodger fan base and our players,” manager Dave Roberts said before Los Angeles rallied to beat the Detroit Tigers 8-5 in 10 innings. “What a way to cap off the first two days of celebrations,” Roberts said afterward. “By far the best opening week I’ve ever experienced. I just couldn’t have scripted it any better.” A choir in the
The famously raucous Hong Kong Sevens are to start today in a big test for a shiny new stadium at the heart of a major US$3.85 billion sports park in the territory. Officials are keeping their fingers crossed that the premier event in Hong Kong’s sporting and social calendar goes off without a hitch at the 50,000-seat Kai Tak Stadium. They hope to entice major European soccer teams to visit in the next few months, with reports in December last year saying that Liverpool were in talks about a pre-season tour. Coldplay are to perform there next month, all part of Hong Kong’s
After fleeing Sudan when civil war erupted, Al-Hilal captain Mohamed Abdelrahman and his teammates have defied the odds to reach the CAF Champions League quarter-finals. They are today to face title-holders Al-Ahly of Egypt in Cairo, with the return match in the Mauritanian capital, Nouakchott, on Tuesday next week. Al-Hilal and biggest domestic rivals Al-Merrikh relocated to Mauritania after a power struggle broke out in April 2023 between the Sudanese army and a paramilitary force. The civil war has claimed tens of thousands of lives and displaced more than 12 million people, according to the UN. The Democratic Republic of the Congo-born Al-Hilal
Shohei Ohtani, Teoscar Hernandez and Tommy Edman on Thursday smashed home runs to give the reigning World Series champions the Los Angeles Dodgers a 5-4 victory over Detroit on the MLB’s opening day in the US. The Dodgers, who won two season-opening games in Tokyo last week, raised their championship banner on a day when 28 clubs launched the season in the US. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts shuffled his batting lineup with all four leadoff hitters finally healthy as Ohtani was followed by Mookie Betts, then Hernandez and Freddie Freeman in the cleanup spot, switching places with Hernandez. “There’s a Teoscar tax to
RSS