Alonzo Mourning
(Born 1970)
Hall of Fame Induction: 2014
Card Shown:
2003-04 Upper Deck Legends
Legendary Signatures
Position: C/PF
Height: 6’10”
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Alonzo Mourning, known as “Zo” to his friends and fans, was a 6’10” center from Georgetown University who became a defensive force in the NBA. He was drafted 2nd overall in 1992 by the Charlotte Hornets and went on to play for the Miami Heat and New Jersey Nets. Mourning’s basketball career was interrupted when he was diagnosed with a rare and fatal kidney disease. He fought valiantly against the disease and returned to the NBA to help lead the Miami Heat to an NBA championship.
Awards and Honors
- Alonzo was a 7-time NBA All-Star.
- He was named the NBA Defensive Player of the Year 2 times, in 1998-99 and 1999-00.
- Mourning led the league in blocked shots in each of these years and finished his NBA career with 2,356 blocks.
- He won an Olympic gold medal with the USA basketball team in 2000 in Sydney, Australia.
- In 2006 Alonzo teamed with Shaquille O’Neal and Dwyane Wade to lead the Miami Heat to the NBA championship in his 13th year of professional play.
Points of Interest
- Mourning continued the tradition of NBA-bound centers from Georgetown University. He followed Patrick Ewing and Dikembe Mutombo into the league.
- In 1996 Alonzo appeared in the movie “Space Jam” with Michael Jordan and Bugs Bunny.
- Alonzo was diagnosed with focal segmental glomerulosclerosis, a kidney disease, that required him to temporarily leave basketball and get a kidney transplant.
- Mourning wrote a book entitled “Resilience: Faith, Focus, Triumph” to chronicle his journey through the NBA and his fight against a rare and fatal kidney disease. (see video below). He returned to the NBA, after an absence to fight the disease, to win an NBA championship with the Miami Heat.
- On March 30, 2009 Mourning became the first Miami Heat player to have his number (#33) retired.
Statistics
Alonzo Mourning Statistics
provided by Basketball-Reference.com
Personal Autograph Interaction
At the 2023 Hall of Fame Induction weekend Joshua and I were able to obtain a beautiful autograph of Alonzo Mourning at the Hall of Fame museum autograph signing on Saturday afternoon. Out of the six signers at that event, Alonzo is considered the hardest in-person autograph to get. We each chose a 2014-15 Panini Flawless Silver Diamond card. Mine is numbered 15/20 and includes silver foil on the card design and a small diamond embedded in the card.
Alonzo did something that perhaps no autograph signer had done before. He transformed the diamond into a sapphire with the stroke of a blue sharpie. As he was signing his rather elaborate autograph, the pen encountered the embedded diamond and stuck for a moment. Mourning completed his autograph, forever altering the gem sunken into the card. Seriously though, both Joshua and I were thrilled to add Alonzo Mourning’s autograph to our collection on such a nice card.
Thank you, Alonzo!
In-Person Autograph Photos
In 2023, Alonzo signed my 2014-15 Panini Flawless Silver Diamond card (numbered 15/20) at the official Panini autograph session.