The Miami Heat are a relatively new franchise in the NBA, having only been formed in 1988, but they’ve had quite a few incredible players suit up for them in that time. Alonzo Mourning is one of them and during a recent appearance on the All The Smoke podcast, he was asked to share an all-time Heat starting five.
“Oh man, I mean that’s easy,” Mourning said. “Me at the center. Timmy (Hardaway) at the point. D-Wade, (LeBron James), and (Chris Bosh).”
(starts at 1:22:23 mark):
I would say that’s a pretty good starting five. Dwyane Wade and LeBron James were obvious picks, with the former being the greatest player in franchise history. Wade won three titles with the Heat and LeBron was a teammate of his for two of those championship runs.
Mourning, who won a title in Miami, is also well deserving of a spot. He made the All-Star team five times as a member of the Heat and averaged 16.0 points, 8.1 rebounds, 1.1 assists, 0.5 steals, and 2.7 blocks per game during his time with the franchise.
Tim Hardaway, meanwhile, put up 17.3 points, 3.2 rebounds, 7.8 assists, and 1.5 steals per game for the Heat. He made two All-Star teams during his time in Miami and I would say is the best point guard in franchise history.
Lastly, we get to Chris Bosh, who was an All-Star in each of his six seasons with the Heat. Bosh averaged 18.0 points, 7.3 rebounds, 1.8 assists, 0.9 steals, and 0.9 blocks per game and was part of that Big 3 with James and Wade.
While I don’t want to minimize what Bosh did for the franchise, I think he is probably the one player from Mourning’s starting five who can be left out. You can make a case for Shaquille O’Neal or Jimmy Butler to get in there over him.
Butler has been the Heat’s best player post the Big 3 era and has led them to the NBA Finals twice. O’Neal, meanwhile, won a championship alongside Wade in 2006.
Alonzo Mourning Shares His List Of The Top Five Centers Of All Time
While Mourning’s all-time Heat starting five wasn’t all that controversial, the same cannot be said about his list of the top five greatest centers in NBA history. When asked to give his list during this episode, the Heat legend surprisingly left out Wilt Chamberlain. (starts at the 1:22:49 mark in the above video):
“Hakeem (Olajuwon), Kareem (Abdul-Jabbar), Bill Russell, Shaq, Patrick (Ewing),” Mourning said.
With all due respect to Patrick Ewing, he doesn’t really belong on that list. Ewing never won a championship or led the league in any of the major statistical categories.
He is undoubtedly one of the finest big men the league has ever seen, but someone like Wilt Chamberlain is well clear of him. Chamberlain won two titles, a Finals MVP, four MVPs, seven scoring titles, and 11 rebounding titles during his storied career.
As for the other four picks, they are all more than deserving of a spot. I think Nikola Jokic might have had a case to get in if he won a championship this year, but he and the Denver Nuggets were knocked out in seven games by the Minnesota Timberwolves in the second round.
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