Star Ledger
This is an article from the NYTimes. I had to cut and paste it.
[b]Nets Hoping Mourning's Persistence Pays Off
By CHRIS BROUSSARD
It would change the entire outlook of the coming N.B.A. season, deliver the finals from the land of the lopsided and perhaps even draw a few fans to Continental Arena. The return of the intimidating, sneering Alonzo Mourning is just what is needed by the Nets, the two-time runner-up to the league champion, and by the N.B.A., which could use a feel-good story or two.
But no one - not Mourning, not his doctors, not the Nets - will predict that Mourning will finish even the first month of the season, let alone return to dominance for 82 games. All they can do is hope that he stages a stirring comeback from the kidney disorder that nearly ended his career three years ago.
"Nobody can predict the future," said Gerald Appel, Mourning's doctor. "He's in partial remission. He's never been in complete remission. It's always been partial. At any point, his kidney disease could get bad. Alonzo and I have always had a deal that we will take this one month at a time, one day at a time. We won't look too far down the road.
"So when people say, 'Can he play?' I say: 'Well, he can play today. I can't tell you about next week.' "
The only thing that is certain is Mourning's persistence. On Thursday, he visited children with chronic kidney disease at Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center, sharing with them the importance of staying positive and fighting to overcome even the toughest of obstacles.
"Whatever disorder a person is dealing with, pretty much half of it is mental," Mourning, 33, said in a telephone interview last week.
"You have to keep telling yourself that you're going to get through it, even though somebody might be telling you differently. When I first got diagnosed, they told me I would be on dialysis in a year and have to have a transplant in 12 to 14 months. But here I am about to enter my third year and I'm playing ball again."
In signing him to a contract in July, the Nets bet $20 million that Mourning would play for the next four seasons.
Although it was a risk, the signs regarding Mourning's health are good. Mourning has been working out daily at the Nets' practice complex for the past month, learning the team's plays, doing jumping drills, running sprints and lifting weights. He has worked his body to such a chiseled form that he appears to have lost weight. But he has not lost weight, only fat.
"He is all muscle," said Appel, the director of clinical nephrology at Columbia University.
Living close to Appel will help Mourning. While playing in Miami, Mourning was examined by Appel once a month. Now, it will be once a week. Mourning will also have his blood and chemical levels checked during practices and after games.
All that should help him avoid the miscommunication that caused him to have a relapse last year.
Away from Appel, Mourning got his medication regimen mixed up, which led to a deterioration in his condition and caused him to miss last season.
Even though the kidney disease, which is called focal segmental glomerulosclerosis, is what sidelined Mourning in October 2000, one of his greatest obstacles to returning to top form on the basketball court is anemia, which was caused by the disease.
After missing the first 69 games of the 2000-1 season, Mourning started 74 games the next season. But he was dragging severely at the end of games. About a third of the way through the season, it was discovered that he had anemia, a condition that lowers the production of red blood cells, resulting in fatigue.
After being put on the medication Procrit, Mourning was rejuvenated, averaging 16.4 points, 8.5 rebounds and 2.4 blocks in leading Miami to a 31-23 record over the last 54 games.
Although the dream is to again become the 21-point, 10-rebound player he was during his first eight seasons in the N.B.A., Mourning and the Nets would be overjoyed if he performed as he did in 2001-2.
Mourning believes that is a realistic goal.
"I haven't forgotten how to play at all," Mourning said. "I still have that All-Star mentality. I think I'm capable of giving the same type of production here that I gave two years ago. I'm confident because I've prepared myself. I wish the preseason was starting tomorrow." [b]
This is an article from the NYTimes. I had to cut and paste it.
[b]Nets Hoping Mourning's Persistence Pays Off
By CHRIS BROUSSARD
It would change the entire outlook of the coming N.B.A. season, deliver the finals from the land of the lopsided and perhaps even draw a few fans to Continental Arena. The return of the intimidating, sneering Alonzo Mourning is just what is needed by the Nets, the two-time runner-up to the league champion, and by the N.B.A., which could use a feel-good story or two.
But no one - not Mourning, not his doctors, not the Nets - will predict that Mourning will finish even the first month of the season, let alone return to dominance for 82 games. All they can do is hope that he stages a stirring comeback from the kidney disorder that nearly ended his career three years ago.
"Nobody can predict the future," said Gerald Appel, Mourning's doctor. "He's in partial remission. He's never been in complete remission. It's always been partial. At any point, his kidney disease could get bad. Alonzo and I have always had a deal that we will take this one month at a time, one day at a time. We won't look too far down the road.
"So when people say, 'Can he play?' I say: 'Well, he can play today. I can't tell you about next week.' "
The only thing that is certain is Mourning's persistence. On Thursday, he visited children with chronic kidney disease at Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center, sharing with them the importance of staying positive and fighting to overcome even the toughest of obstacles.
"Whatever disorder a person is dealing with, pretty much half of it is mental," Mourning, 33, said in a telephone interview last week.
"You have to keep telling yourself that you're going to get through it, even though somebody might be telling you differently. When I first got diagnosed, they told me I would be on dialysis in a year and have to have a transplant in 12 to 14 months. But here I am about to enter my third year and I'm playing ball again."
In signing him to a contract in July, the Nets bet $20 million that Mourning would play for the next four seasons.
Although it was a risk, the signs regarding Mourning's health are good. Mourning has been working out daily at the Nets' practice complex for the past month, learning the team's plays, doing jumping drills, running sprints and lifting weights. He has worked his body to such a chiseled form that he appears to have lost weight. But he has not lost weight, only fat.
"He is all muscle," said Appel, the director of clinical nephrology at Columbia University.
Living close to Appel will help Mourning. While playing in Miami, Mourning was examined by Appel once a month. Now, it will be once a week. Mourning will also have his blood and chemical levels checked during practices and after games.
All that should help him avoid the miscommunication that caused him to have a relapse last year.
Away from Appel, Mourning got his medication regimen mixed up, which led to a deterioration in his condition and caused him to miss last season.
Even though the kidney disease, which is called focal segmental glomerulosclerosis, is what sidelined Mourning in October 2000, one of his greatest obstacles to returning to top form on the basketball court is anemia, which was caused by the disease.
After missing the first 69 games of the 2000-1 season, Mourning started 74 games the next season. But he was dragging severely at the end of games. About a third of the way through the season, it was discovered that he had anemia, a condition that lowers the production of red blood cells, resulting in fatigue.
After being put on the medication Procrit, Mourning was rejuvenated, averaging 16.4 points, 8.5 rebounds and 2.4 blocks in leading Miami to a 31-23 record over the last 54 games.
Although the dream is to again become the 21-point, 10-rebound player he was during his first eight seasons in the N.B.A., Mourning and the Nets would be overjoyed if he performed as he did in 2001-2.
Mourning believes that is a realistic goal.
"I haven't forgotten how to play at all," Mourning said. "I still have that All-Star mentality. I think I'm capable of giving the same type of production here that I gave two years ago. I'm confident because I've prepared myself. I wish the preseason was starting tomorrow." [b]
well any net fans?
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