Miami Receives Early Mourning Wake-Up Call

Alonzo Mourning was back where he’d sat five months ago, when he revealed what he and some of the nation’s leading kidney specialists stressed was a season-ending illness.

Tuesday, with that season slipping away, Mourning returned to the interview area at AmericanAirlines Arena, this time without any physicians at his side.

This no longer was solely about focal glomerulosclerosis, a serious kidney ailment. This was about a basketball player who needed to play basketball.

“I have developed a love for the game that is immeasurable,” Mourning said. “It’s hard to trade the feeling, of being out on the court, for anything.”

It is a trade Mourning no longer was willing to make.

With agent and confidant David Falk saying the illness is in remission, but with risks remaining, Mourning, against the advice of some of those closest to him, later donned his No. 33 for the first time since his October announcement, when the Heat played the Toronto Raptors.

“It was a very tough decision to make,” said Mourning, who played 18 minutes and finished with nine points and seven rebounds in a 101-92 loss to the Raptors. “This will be a game-to-game approach.

“The most difficult thing in all of this is that the doctors can’t give me assurances about my future. Every time I step on the court, it’s a huge concern.”

After the game, Mourning was a competitor, not a patient.

“It just felt great to mix it up again,” he said. “But I’m not out here for a show. I’m out here to win.

“At times I got very exhausted. But I got the chills [from a rousing ovation]. Words can’t express the feelings I have for this city and the support.”

His illness diagnosed shortly after his return from the Sydney Olympics as one that often leads to dialysis or a transplant, Mourning has been on a harsh medication regimen for months, one that will continue for months.

“Physically, I have good days and bad days,” he said. “I do feel like I’m taking medication.”

Mourning has been working out with teammates for three months, increasing the intensity of those workouts over the past six weeks.

Last week he passed a stress test.

But, until Tuesday morning, he was undecided about when or even if he would return.

First there was a meeting with his advisors, family and his Georgetown coach, John Thompson, who was in town for a national telecast. Then there was a meeting with Coach Pat Riley and Heat owner Micky Arison.

“They assure me the level of risk is really no different than in practice, because he practices so intensely,” Arison said of his conversations with Mourning’s medical team.

For weeks, as Mourning grew antsy, friends tried to push him off the idea. Riley too had reservations.

“The information we have gotten has been somewhat positive,” Riley said. “It always, ultimately, came back to Alonzo making the decision.”

With some of those concerns allayed by kidney specialist Gerald B. Appel of Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center in New York, Mourning decided to return.

“I just needed some reassurance it would be OK,” he said.

Appel said, “I don’t have a crystal ball but I don’t think it will hurt him to play.”

Concerns remain.

“I know the future is definitely not promised,” Mourning said. “Dr. Appel tells me in six months I could be worse off or I could be better. Every time I step on the court, I’m afraid, I’m scared.

“I continue to be a guinea pig in all this.”

Mourning had been making steady progress, but in recent weeks had leveled off.

With his future uncertain, he decided to seize the moment, aware that it took a transplant to get San Antonio Spur forward Sean Elliott back on the court from a less-serious form of the ailment.

“If I do wait, I might lose this opportunity,” he said. “There’s a short window of time. I don’t know how this disease is going to turn out in the future.”

Mourning’s return will be one of small steps. After each game, just as has been the case after each practice, he will be tested.

“It’s already been an emotional roller coaster, and it’s going to continue to be one,” he said.

The Heat’s unexpected success also factored in Mourning’s decision.

“That made me want to make this decision even more,” he said. “God forbid, there’s a possibility I might not ever reach this point again.”

For the Heat, there has been an unlikely but steady climb in Mourning’s absence. The Heat was a season-high 15 games above .500 before Tuesday’s loss.

Should Mourning come close to his previous form as a defensive player of the year and an offensive force, the Heat could challenge for its first NBA title.

Riley downplayed discussion of the potential impact of Mourning’s return on the playoff race.

“For the last five months, this has not been about anything but getting Zo ready,” Riley said.

Physically, Mourning is convinced the timing is right.

“I have worked diligently with the help of others to try to get myself right,” he said. “My biggest challenge was having to develop a certain level of patience. I’m patiently waiting for my body to catch up to my mind and my spirit.”

Tuesday, he ran out of patience. Without any guarantees, he was back on the court in a Heat uniform.