Alonzo Mourning Elected To Basketball Hall Of Fame

     Former Miami Heat center Alonzo Mourning has been elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility. He had two stints with the Miami Heat where he played the majority of his 15-year NBA career. The Basketball Hall of Fame committee takes into consideration what a player accomplished both in college and pro basketball.
     Mourning was first noticed nationally as a center for Georgetown University from 1988 until 1992 alongside Dikembe Mutumbo. He was named the Big East Conference Player of the Year and Tournament MVP in 1992. Mourning was selected by the Charlotte Hornets as the second overall pick in the 1992 NBA Draft behind future Heat teammate Shaquille O'Neal.
     He would play three seasons with them and led them to the NBA playoffs twice along with Larry Johnson. A rift between both of them forced the club to traded Mourning to the Miami Heat in November 1995.
     The Miami Heat would win the Atlantic Division championship four consecutive years from 1997 to 2000 led by him and Tim Hardaway under head coach Pat Riley. They won their first two playoffs series in 1996-97 which included a seven-game series win over the New York Knicks in the second round. The Heat fell to the eventual NBA champion Chicago Bulls in five games during the Eastern Conference Finals. Miami would be eliminated in the next three postseasons from 1998 to 2000 by the Knicks.
     Mourning was an NBA First Team All-Star in 1999 and an NBA Second Team All-Star in 2000. He won a gold medal as a member of the USA basketball team at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia.
     The Heat lost in the first round of the playoffs in 2001 to the Hornets after he played a limited amount of games during the season due to kidney disease. He would sit out the entire 2002-03 season and he eventually became a free agent.
     He signed with the defending two-time defending Eastern Conference champion New Jersey Nets in 2003-04, but retired one month into the season due to his kidney disease. Mourning would undergo a kidney transplant in December 2003. He would return to the Nets and played two months for them in 2004-05 until he was traded to the Toronto Raptors. He never played one game for them as his contract was bought out in February 2005.
     Mourning returned to the Miami Heat for his second stint in March 2005. He helped the franchise win their first NBA championship during the 2005-06 season as they came back from two games down to defeat the Dallas Mavericks in six games. He contributed eight points, six rebounds and five blocks in the title-clinching game.
     He played one more season for Miami in 2006-07 and injured his right knee after two months into the campaign. Mourning officially announced his retirement from the NBA in January 2009. At the time of his retirement, he was the all-time leader in career points and rebounds for the Heat.