| | Associated Press
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| Mourning |
BOCA RATON, Fla. -- At first the workout sounds like any
other Miami Heat practice, with Pat Riley's voice and the squeal of
sneakers reverberating in the gym.
This is more than just basketball, though. The Heat are playing
a tense waiting game.
They broke training camp Monday without All-Star center Alonzo
Mourning, and they don't know if or when he'll return. He has been
in Miami undergoing further tests so doctors can determine the best
course of treatment for an apparent kidney disorder.
Mourning told his best friend in the NBA, Seattle center Patrick
Ewing, that he'll play this season. At Mourning's request, the Heat
have declined to discuss his condition or prognosis.
"Zo left me a message Sunday and told us to keep working hard,
and he'll take care of his end of it," Riley said. "He's in great
spirits. He just wants to find out what's available out there and
what the definitive answer is, and then we'll go from there."
Mourning's ailment was discovered during a routine physical
examination before training camp began Wednesday.
"We're more concerned about Alonzo as a person than as a
player," forward Brian Grant said. "We're not even thinking about
when he's going to come back, but just is he going to be all right.
We should know that pretty soon."
Mourning discussed his condition last week with Ewing, The Miami
Herald reported.
"Our conversation went fine, and he was in good spirits,"
Ewing said. "In fact, he cursed me out because I sounded depressed
on the phone when he told me what he had. ...
"He's going to play again this season. He just said he is going
to play again at some point. I don't know when that is."
The Heat will play their first preseason game Wednesday at New
Jersey. The regular season opens Nov. 1.
Mourning, 30, hasn't been with the team or appeared in public
since media day last Tuesday. At that time he enthusiastically
discussed his offseason, which included the birth of his second
child, a charity fund-raiser he organized and his role in the U.S.
Olympic team's gold-medal effort.
"I couldn't have written out my summer any better," he said.
Riley had a good summer, too. With a series of deals, he
positioned Miami as the Eastern Conference favorite. He brought in
Grant, All-Star guard Eddie Jones and rugged forward Anthony Mason.
But the moves left the Heat thin on the bench. In the past they
had Clarence Weatherspoon or Ike Austin to fill in for Mourning,
but there's no comforting option this season. His backup is
seldom-used Duane Causwell.
The best alternative may be to play Grant or the 6-foot-7 Mason
out of position at center and hope that their aggressiveness
compensates for a lack of size.
"They had a real scrimmage Sunday night against one another,"
Riley said. "It was a sight to behold to watch them go after each
other. The only trouble is neither one of them would have been in
the game at the end. They both would have had about 16 fouls."
The Heat stress that their first concern is Mourning's health,
and there has been no discussion about bringing in a replacement if
he can't play this season, Riley said. Miami would have about $4
million available under the salary cap for a disabled-player
exception.
"In the backs of our minds we're thinking about it," Riley
said, "but we're not moving on anything right now."
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