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Current Miami Heat director of player programs and development and NBA legend Alonzo Mourning is now cancer-free after having surgery to remove his prostate, per Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.
In his interview with ESPN, Mourning – a seven-time All-Star, NBA champion and Olympic gold medalist in his 15-year career – talked about how routine prostate cancer screening played an enormous role in the discovery and treatment.
“What scares me about this disease is that there are so many men walking around feeling great and have that cancer in them and they don't know it,” said Mourning. “The only way to find out is to get their blood tested and get their PSA checked. There are 3.3 million men living in the U.S. with prostate cancer, and many don't even know it. I was one of those guys.”
“And Dr. Punnen tells me, ‘I want to get a PET scan immediately to make sure cancer hasn't spread through your body,'” Mourning told ESPN. “I was in shock. I can't tell you enough about how well my body felt. I was in top-notch shape — running sprints, strong. The doctor told me that he couldn't believe I had had a kidney transplant.
“My partner, Mariona, is waiting for me outside the PET scan, and we are nervous as hell. I'm sitting in the machine with my arms over my head and my mind racing — waiting for the technician to read the scan. We ended up in a cold waiting room waiting for the tech to come in and finally he looks at us and says he's got good news: The cancer is still in the [prostate] capsule and hasn't spread.”
It's great news that the NBA legend caught his cancer his time and is now cancer-free.
Alonzo Mourning had a Hall of Fame NBA career
Mourning played most of his 15-year NBA career for the Heat.
Nicknamed “Zo”, Mourning played the center position. Following his college basketball career at Georgetown University, his tenacity on defense twice earned him the NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award and twice placed him on the NBA All-Defensive Team. Mourning made a comeback after undergoing a kidney transplant and later won the 2006 NBA championship with the Heat. Mourning also played for the Charlotte Hornets and New Jersey Nets.
On March 30, 2009, Mourning became the first Miami Heat player to have his number retired.
In his 15-year NBA career, Mourning averaged 17.1 points and 8.5 rebounds per game. He also blocked 2.8 shots a night over his acclaimed career.
In 2010, Mourning was inducted into the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame. In August 2014, Mourning was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, and in August 2019 he was inducted into the FIBA Hall of Fame.
