Zo Long: Mourning the end of a great career

In all likelihood, Alonzo Mourning's 16-season NBA career is over.

Mourning came down wrong while trying to block a shot on transition defense Wednesday night, and you could tell by his writhing and pounding on the floor that it probably wasn't just a twisted ankle. The bottom line was a torn patellar tendon in his right knee.

And as someone who's dislocated a knee before, I can tell you that's about the worst kind of pain to have. Typical recovery period is three months, but for a 37-year old to recover and get back in playing shape within the confines of this season seems highly unlikely.

So with that, I want to thank Alonzo Mourning for a great career, one in which there were many highlights:

• Mourning would have been the #1 pick out of Georgetown, if it wasn't for some big ogre named Shaquille. With 21 points, 10 rebounds, and 3.5 blocks per game, he would have been Rookie of the Year, too -- except Shaq was better.
  
  
• Zo was the top dog on a fierce '94-95 Charlotte team, one that won 50 games and finished second in the Atlantic Conference Central Division. But then he ran into the Chicago Bulls and Michael Jordan in the first round of the playoffs.
  
  
• Mourning amassed over 2,800 blocks, good for a career average of 2.8 per game. In his best seasons, Zo would get 3.5 a game, and in '98-98, he almost got four.
  
  
• Zo was never an MVP, but he was a two-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year. Despite six seasons in which he averaged 20 points or more, you could always tell that defense was most important. Especially when he bellered or scowled at an opponent after blocking a shot.
  
  
• Mourning got the Holy Grail of basketball when the Miami Heat won the NBA Championship in 2006. Zo was a role player, to be sure, averaging 8.6 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 2.3 blocks in just over 20 minutes a game. But you know what? Role players get rings, too, and with Shaq missing over 40 games that season, the Heat probably couldn't have done it without him.
  
  
• Perhaps the most impressive feat at all was accomplished off the basketball court, when Mourning battled kidney disease and came back from a transplant surgery. No way would he allow himself to become the sad story of an NBA star whose career ended far too early. After missing the '02-03 season for the surgery and recovery period, Zo returned a different player. Less stamina, less strength, perhaps, but more hustle. Less flash, more heart. And while he would never again be a star, he got the NBA championship that is the envy of every player who's never won one.

If Zo can beat kidney disease, he may be man enough to speed through a recovery and help the Heat in the playoffs. I suspect not, but if so I will gladly suspend my eulogy at that time. But if this is it -- and Mourning has stated that this will be his last season -- we owe him thanks for a phenomenal career.

Atlanta 117, Miami 111 (AP, via Yahoo! sports)
Alonzo Mourning player profile (Yahoo! sports)
Alonzo Mourning (Wikipedia)