Put Some Respect on the Name of Alonzo Mourning!

The Miami Heat are easily one of if not, the best franchise in the last two decades of basketball history.

Still a pretty young franchise, but there’s a lot of winning, and a great winning culture around the program.

Most people know Pat Riley, Dwyane Wade, Erik Spoelstra, Jimmy Butler, Shaquille O’Neal. Shit most people even Udonis Haslem for what he’s brought to the organization. But for some reason on Heat twitter, there was some ongoing debate whether Jimmy Butler was a top 3 Heat player of all time and the answer is and should be, universally, unequivocally no.

Now let’s start this s**t here, if you’re out here saying there are three players better than Alonzo Mourning in Miami Heat franchise history, I already know three things about you:

 You probably say the phrase “6’7”

           You weren’t alive in the 90s

           You don’t know ball

Make this make sense because I don’t know who, what, when, or WHY the younger generation decided to erase Alonzo Mourning from not only basketball conversations, but also Heat lore, but this is an awesome time to wake everybody the hell up.

Zo wasn’t just good.

Zo was a PROBLEM

Let’s start here, you know Shaquille O Neal right, all time top 10 player of NBA history, arguably the greatest center to play the game (I rank him the best in the modern era tbh) he got drafted No. 1 in the 92 draft. You know who was the pick right after him from Georgetown University? Zo. Keep in mind this is the same Georgetown progrma that produced Dikembe Mutombo (teammate of Mourning’s, Jaren Jackson (father of Jaren Jackson Jr.), and an alumni of Pat Ewing who played there 5 years prior .Keep in mind Mourning also went ahead of who some call the greatest collegiate basketball player of all-time in Christian Laettner.

He was drafted by Charlotte and soon, a few years after he made his way to Miami and become one of the most beloved players in franchise history. And let’s talk about how Miami even got him. Back in 1995, Charlotte lowballed Zo, he said “nah,” and BOOM, Pat Riley swooped in like a mob boss and brought him to South Beach.

Zo was the person who helped create the standard in Miami. Gritty, play hard nosed, intelligent and was the heartbeat of Pat Riley’s Heat before “Heat Culture” was even a hashtag.

And let’s get this out of the way right now: In Miami Zo became a TWO-TIME DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR. Read it again. No seriously. Read that s**t twice.

TWO. TIME. DPOY.

In an era with Shaq, Hakeem, Mutombo, Robinson, Ewing, and every other seven-foot nightmare roaming the paint, Zo was still the dude shutting the door.

For every Vince Carter highlight where he jumped out the gym on Zo (which ESPN has played 8 million times), there are DOUBLE the clips of Zo absolutely SONNING dudes at the rim.

Blocks into the third row. Post moves that looked illegal. Snarl included.

This man was out here making grown NBA players look goofy. Zo instantly became the centerpiece of the Heat. First season in Miami?

23.2 points
10.4 rebounds
2.7 blocks

Dragged Miami to the playoffs where they ran into the 72-win Bulls buzzsaw (because of course they did).

Then Tim Hardaway pulled up midseason and suddenly Miami was a real problem. By 1996-97, the Heat won a franchise-record 61 games. Zo was putting up damn near 20 and 10 with THREE blocks a night.

That legendary Knicks rivalry? That was built on Zo’s back. The brawls. The suspensions.

Jeff Van Gundy literally hanging onto Zo’s leg like a toddler in Target.

Zo still dropped 28 in Game 6 and 22 and 12 in Game 7 to push Miami to their FIRST EVER Eastern Conference Finals.

That’s franchise history.

Then came the late 90s heartbreak tour. Zo led the league in blocks. Won Defensive Player of the Year. TWICE. Miami kept getting the one seed but the Knicks kept ripping their souls out every postseason. Allan Houston’s floating jumper still gives Heat fans nightmares.

But through all of it?

Zo was DOMINATING. 3.9 blocks per game one season. 3.7 the next, and just an absolute paint tyrant.

Then life threw him the biggest curveball imaginable. Right after winning Olympic gold in 2000, Zo gets diagnosed with a serious kidney disease.

Most dudes would’ve been done. Zo fought back. Came back early. Played limited minutes. Still helped Miami win 50 games. Even made one last All-Star appearance.

Missed an entire season fighting for his damn life and somehow still returned to the NBA afterward.

And just in case anybody thinks Zo’s impact stopped when he hung it up, let’s be very clear.

Mourning didn’t just retire and disappear. The Heat (with a of course they did decision) retired Mourning’s No. 33 jersey in 2009 (all earned and rightfully so) Even more impressive was that this made him the FIRST player in franchise history to ever receive that honor. Of course the legends of the franchise were there including Pat Riley, Dwyane Wade, Udonis Haslem, but even his old Georgetown alumnus Patrick Ewing, and Zo even brought out the f**king Governor of Florida in the building. That’s how important he is to the city, to the franchise and more importantly to the state of Florida.

One of the greatest defenders in NBA history, officially stamped forever making the Hall of Fame in 2014, and later the FIBA Hall of Fame in 2019.

Off the court? It’s not even a question…let’s keep this s**t going because Zo became Vice President of Player Programs and Development for the Miami Heat, mentoring young players and continuing to shape the culture he helped build.

Zo’s been one of the most philanthropic people in the city in a long time. With the Alonzo Mourning Charities, he helped millions to support at-risk youth and families.

He created the Overtown Youth Center to give underprivileged kids education, mentorship, and real opportunities. The OYC still stands today as one of the best places in downtown for kids to receive mentorship and have a safe place to grow. If you know anything about Overtown you know how big of a deal this was.

Let alone, let’s talk about Alonzo and Tracy Mourning Senior High School that is one of the best schools in the county, let alone the state of Florida.

And every year, for a long time who could forget Zo’s Summer Groove? Alonzo brought NBA players, actors, singers, entertainers and everyone with a pulse and turned the city out with his basketball game, block party and several events that brought the city together raising even more money for youth programs, scholarships, and community development.

The man didn’t just give Miami basketball.

He gave Miami his life’s work.

So yeah.

If you’re ranking Heat franchise greats and Alonzo Mourning isn’t near the very top, you’re either:

           too young
           too casual
or just box-score watching

Before Wade.

Before the Big 3.

Before rings.

Zo BUILT the foundation.

He was Heat Culture before Heat Culture existed. The snarl. The defense. The toughness. The loyalty.

Put some damn respect on Alonzo Mourning’s name.

Because saying three people were better than Zo in Miami history?

That’s not an opinion.

That’s just loud and f**king wrong.