Former NBA star Alonzo Mourning dealt with a life-threatening kidney disease during his career and even briefly retired from the NBA in 2003 during his stint with the New Jersey Nets. As one might imagine, there was a lot of concern regarding Mourning at the time, and then-Nets head coach Byron Scott revealed on Byron Scott’s Fast Break podcast how he once had to stop the big man from practicing.
“My first coaching gig in New Jersey, we get Alonzo Mourning,” Scott said. “And this is when Alonzo had the kidney issue. So, we had to really keep an eye on his white cell count or something. The trainer comes out to me and Zo’s on the floor an hour before practice, just going at it full sweat. Tim says, ‘Coach, he can’t practice this today. His count is real low. If he practiced today, man, he could die.’
“I mean, it was that serious,” Scott continued. “I said, ‘Well, go tell him.’ He said, ‘No, I ain’t going to tell him.’ He’s like, ‘I ain’t going to tell him. You go tell him. You the coach.’ I said, ‘Okay.’ So, I walk out on the court. I said, ‘Zo,’ [He replied], ‘Yeah, coach.’ I said, ‘Come here for a second.’
“And of course, I’m like this, I’m looking up because he’s looking down,” Scott added. “And I said, ‘Zo, shut it down. You can’t practice today.’ He said, ‘Why?’ I said, ‘Can’t practice today, man.’ He walked up on me, and he [shouted], ‘F***,’ and he just walked off the court.”
Scott breathed a sigh of relief after Mourning walked away. He knew there was nothing he could do if the big man had decided to swing at him in frustration in that moment.
Mourning was going through a very rough period in the early 2000s. He had been diagnosed with focal segmental glomerulosclerosis after winning the gold medal at the Olympics with Team USA in 2000.
Mourning only played in 13 games for the Miami Heat in the 2000-01 season due to the disease and later missed the entire 2002-03 campaign. In the following offseason, he joined the Nets on a four-year, $22 million deal.
Unfortunately for Mourning, the change in scenery didn’t lead to a change in his fortunes. Not long after this practice session, his career seemed over.
“He played like the next night,” Scott stated. “We took him out of a game ’cause he was so exhausted. And the next day, we had to retire him. And the doctor told me, if you would have let him play another two minutes or so, he’d have died right there on that court.”
Fortunately, there would be a happy ending here. Mourning’s cousin and retired U.S. Marine, Jason Cooper, donated his kidney to him in December 2023 after they were deemed a match, and he was able to return to the court the following season.
Mourning would later make his way back to the Heat in 2005 and helped them win the NBA championship in 2006. He then retired in 2009, having played 15 seasons in the league. Mourning finished his NBA career with averages of 17.1 points, 8.5 rebounds, 1.1 assists, 0.5 steals, and 2.8 blocks per game.
While Mourning’s battles on the court ended there, the ones off it didn’t. He was diagnosed with stage 3 prostate cancer in February 2024, but managed to win that battle as well and is cancer-free now. To say Mourning is a fighter would be an understatement.
