The New York Knicks and Miami Heat became a defining rivalry in the late 1990s with star centers Patrick Ewing and Alonzo Mourning leading their respective squads. But as a surprising prelude to the rivalry, Mourning revealed there was an opportunity for him to team up with Ewing, a fellow Georgetown alumni, in the Big Apple.
Prior to the 1995-96 season, the Knicks were fresh off a second-round playoff exit against the Indiana Pacers. With the Charlotte Hornets having a dilemma over Mourning's new contract, they had the option to ship the big man to New York. The Knicks' twin towers of Ewing and Mourning would have contended against the Chicago Bulls and a rejuvenated Michael Jordan seeking to return to the top of the NBA after his brief baseball hiatus.
But the trade never came to fruition thanks to a veto from Ewing, who at the time was one of the best big men in basketball.
Alonzo Mourning speaks out on Patrick Ewing's role in trade from Hornets to the Heat
During a recent appearance on the All The Smoke with fellow former NBA players Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson, Mourning revealed that he and Ewing discussed pairing up in New York before Charlotte ultimately shipped him to the Miami Heat.
“First of all, leading up to that [1995 trade to Miami], I had a conversation with Pat[rick] Ewing and I said, ‘Yo man…I got a chance to come to New York and play with you. I got a chance to go to LA, I got a chance to go, I think it was Indiana, and then Miami,” said Mourning. “And Pat was like, ‘Go to Miami,' and I was like: ‘What? Dude we got a chance to play together man, we can play together in New York, win a championship.' He’s like, ‘No, go to Miami, let [Pat Riley] build a team around you.' I said, ‘What about his practices?' He said, ‘Dude you went to Georgetown, you can handle it.”
The remarks made by Ewing to Mourning now beg the question on whether Ewing was threatened by Mourning's potential move to the Knicks.
Ahead of 1995-96, Pat Riley made the jump from being head coach of the Knicks to becoming president and head coach of the Heat. Riley nabbed Mourning and reserves Pete Myers and LeRon Ellis in a blockbuster trade with the Hornets, sending Glen Rice, Matt Geiger, Khalid Reeve and a first-round pick in the 1996 NBA draft which later became Tony Delk to Charlotte.
Mourning later went on to win the 2006 championship in his second stint with the Heat, serving as a backup to Shaquille O'Neal.
Hornets owner unwilling to meet Mourning's contract demands
Mourning also spoke highly of his tandem with former Hornets teammate Larry Johnson, saying they “complemented each other extremely well.” However, he did not speak the same of the team's then ownership, led by George Shinn, which led to his exit from the franchise.
“We had an owner that wasn't willing to make the investment…and for the lack of better words, he basically said I wasn't worth the money I was asking for,” Mourning said of Shinn, who years later moved the team to New Orleans. “David Falk was my agent at the time…he said, ‘Look I'm going to give you this number [a $105 million contract for seven years], these are the several teams I can get it from. You choose where you want to go.”
The Hornets trading away Mourning also brought about another ‘what if' scenario, as the team was on the rise in the Eastern Conference behind Mourning and Johnson. However, Johnson was facing back issues that subsequently derailed his career. The Knicks acquired Johnson in a trade with the Hornets prior to the 1996-97 season, which later led to a Finals appearance in the lockout-shortened 1998-99 season.
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