Alonzo Mourning

Alonzo Mourning was one of the great basketball pivot men of the 1990s and 2000s and one who overcame significant medical problems to succeed. Mourning won a gold medal with the USA Team at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. He also helped the USA win gold at the 1994 World Championships (World Cup). Mourning played in college at Georgetown University, being named first team All-American as a senior and Big East Conference Player of the Year in 1992. In 1989, 1990, and 1992 he was the Big East’s Defensive Player of the Year and in 1989 led the NCAA in blocks.

Mourning was selected by the Charlotte Hornets with the second overall pick of the 1992 NBA Draft. He played with the Hornets from 1992-95 and then was with the Miami Heat from 1995-2003 and again in 2005-08, after spending one year with the New Jersey Nets. Mourning helped the Miami Heat to the NBA title in 2006. He was a seven-time NBA All-Star, making the All-Star Game in 1994-97 and 2000-02.

In 1999 he was named to the All-NBA First Team and in 2000 to the All-NBA Second Team. He led the NBA in blocks in 1999 and 2000, and in both years was named the NBA Defensive Player of the Year. Mourning won the 2002 J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award and his #33 was retired by the Miami Heat. For his 14-year NBA career Mourning averaged 17.1 points/game, 8.5 rebounds/game, and 2.8 blocks/game. He was elected to the FIBA Hall of Fame.

Mourning achieved all this despite developing glomerulosclerosis, a chronic kidney disease that eventually put him into chronic renal failure and required him to receive a kidney transplant in December 2003 from a cousin. Remarkably, Mourning played five more years in the NBA after that transplant, despite having to be on immunosuppressive drugs the entire time because of the transplant.

Mourning’s charitable and philanthropic contributions are legion. Mourning established Zo’s Fund for Life to raise funds for research, education, and testing for glomerulosclerosis. In 1997 he established Alonzo Mourning Charities Inc. to assist children and families living in at-risk situations. In 2003 he founded Overtown Youth Center in Miami to support and encourage underprivileged kids.

In 2007 he helped found Athletes for Hope, a charitable organization that helps professional athletes get involved in charitable causes and volunteer and support communities. His co-founders of Athletes for Hope were Andre Agassi, Muhammad Ali, Lance Armstrong, Warrick Dunn, Mia Hamm, Jeff Gordon, Tony Hawk, Andrea Jaeger, Jackie Joyner-Kersee, Mario Lemieux, and Cal Ripken Jr.