{"id":21381,"date":"2014-08-09T20:55:37","date_gmt":"2014-08-09T12:55:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=21381"},"modified":"2014-08-09T17:34:40","modified_gmt":"2014-08-09T09:34:40","slug":"mourning-thanks-doctors-kidney-donor-for-helping-him-get-to-basketball-hall-of-fame","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2014\/08\/09\/mourning-thanks-doctors-kidney-donor-for-helping-him-get-to-basketball-hall-of-fame\/","title":{"rendered":"Mourning thanks doctors, kidney donor for helping him get to Basketball Hall of Fame"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Alonzo<\/a>
Alonzo Mourning. Photo by Keith Allison \/ Flickr.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

SPRINGFIELD, Mass.\u2014Alonzo Mourning first thanked all of the usual people when he was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame: His coaches, his teachers, and the foster mother who raised him.<\/p>\n

Then he turned to those who made it possible for his unique journey to the sport\u2019s highest honour.<\/p>\n

With one of the doctors who performed his kidney transplant in attendance, the former Georgetown and Miami Heat star discussed the disease that threatened his life and almost ended his career. He also thanked out his cousin-turned-kidney donor, Jason Cooper.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was such purpose to my life at that point and I never doubted\u2014no matter how long the odds\u2014that it was possible,\u201d Mourning said during Friday night\u2019s induction ceremony. \u201cI just thought, \u2018This is much bigger than me.\u2019 I had a goal set to win a championship that was denied when I got kidney disease.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mourning returned to win the 2006 NBA title with the Heat and complete a career that led him to the Springfield shrine. He was inducted in a class that also included former NBA commissioner David Stern, NCAA championship-winning coaches Nolan Richardson and Gary Williams and six-time NBA All-Star Mitch Richmond.<\/p>\n

The women\u2019s team from Immaculata College was also honoured, along with Lithuania star Sarunas Marciulionis. Former Indiana Pacers coach Bob \u201cSlick\u201d Leonard, the late Nat \u201cSweetwater\u201d Clifton of the New York Knicks and the late Guy Rodgers of Temple rounded out the class.<\/p>\n

Stern was honoured for his three decades of leadership that transformed the league from struggling teams and tape-delayed finals to an international juggernaut. His introductory video included praise from NBA stars like Michael Jordan, Bill Russell and Magic Johnson but also from Nelson Mandela.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverything we do is always about the game,\u201d Stern said, asking the entire crowd to stand so he could thank the former players, fans and family members who made the league\u2019s success possible. \u201cThe reason I\u2019m here is because of thousands of people over the years who have done so much.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stern had five current Hall of Famers welcome him into the Hall, from Russell, the former Celtics star, to former deputy commissioner Russ Granik\u2014a group that represented his wide-ranging influence as he rose from working at his father\u2019s deli to the pinnacle of the sport.<\/p>\n

\u201cUnder his leadership, the NBA rose to terrific heights, on and off the court,\u201d Richmond said in his acceptance speech.<\/p>\n

Stern\u2019s induction capped a festive night at Symphony Hall in downtown Springfield, across the highway from the museum that commemorates the city\u2019s claim as the sport\u2019s birthplace.<\/p>\n

Williams, who led Maryland to 11 consecutive NCAA tournament appearances and the 2002 title, said enshrinement in the hall was \u201cas big a thrill as you can get as a coach.\u201d Then came Arkansas\u2019 Richardson, who celebrated his induction with a revival-style speech peppered with swipes at referees and jokes about God and the devil playing basketball.<\/p>\n

Richardson recounted a playing career in which he went from 21 points per game to 14 and belatedly realized it was more important to win. Thanking his teachers and coaches and family, he said, \u201cYou have to have a team to reach a dream.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis isn\u2019t talking about a national championship team,\u201d he said. \u201cThis is about the team that helped raise Nolan Sam Richardson Jr.\u201d<\/p>\n

Leonard, the winningest coach in ABA history, followed with a contrasting style, accenting his quiet tone with a Southern drawl and guessing that he was one of the oldest inductees in the Hall\u2019s history.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor me, it took a while,\u201d Leonard. 82, said, \u201cbut I\u2019m going out in style.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SPRINGFIELD, Mass.\u2014Alonzo Mourning first thanked all of the usual people when he was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":21382,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[44],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21381","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","mauthors-jimmy-golen","mauthors-the-associated-press"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21381","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21381"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21381\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21382"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21381"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21381"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21381"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}