Heat icon Alonzo Mourning out to raise prostate cancer awareness: ‘This is much bigger than me’
Alonzo Mourning beat cancer earlier this year. The former Miami Heat All-Star center and current Heat executive now wants to help other men do the same.
After revealing this week that he underwent surgery in mid-March to remove his prostate following a diagnosis of Stage 3 prostate cancer, Mourning is using his story to raise awareness about the disease. He held a press conference on Tuesday at Kaseya Center to help deliver his message.
“Today, right now, I’m cancer-free, by the grace of God,” Mourning said Tuesday after sharing his story nationally in an interview with ESPN that was published Monday. “Now my focus — and I sat down with the people I confide in, my agent, my business adviser — I sat down with them and I told them, ‘Hey, I want to turn this adversity into something that will be positive for humanity.’ This isn’t about me, this is much bigger than me. It truly is.
“I feel like God is kind of using me as a vehicle in order for me to get the word out to help create some momentum behind men being proactive with their health.”
Being proactive helped Mourning catch the disease before it was too late, getting the prostate cancer diagnosis in February following a biopsy that stemmed from a worrisome MRI. Further tests indicated the cancer had not spread to other parts of Mourning’s body.
“I was very, very blessed to have caught it early,” said Mourning, who turned 54 in February. “Even though it was a high-grade cancer, it hadn’t reached a point where it spread to my bloodstream or my organs. I was blessed, I truly was. It stayed in its capsule and they were able to remove it.”
The diagnosis surprised Mourning, who keeps himself in good physical shape and felt no signs of the disease. He noted that he “felt great” physically prior to receiving the news that he had prostate cancer earlier this year.
That’s why Mourning refers to prostate cancer as “a silent killer,” as men can have the disease and not know it unless they get checked by the doctor.
“Knowing that I was completely fine and knowing that I had this cancer inside my body, if I wasn’t proactive then I would have found out years later and it would have been too late,” Mourning said. “I want men to get out in front of it.”
Sharing such a personal story can be scary for a public figure like Mourning, but he feels it’s his responsibility to use his platform to urge men to be vigilant.
According to the American Cancer Society, other than skin cancer, prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men in the United States. The average age of men when they are first diagnosed is about 67.
Also, about one in eight men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer during their lifetime and about one in 44 men will die of prostate cancer, according to the American Cancer Society.
“My doctor, Vipul Patel, said: ‘Look, there are so many men out there that have cancer and don’t even know they have it.’ I thought long and hard about that,” Mourning recalled. “We were having this conversation shortly after the surgery as I’m laying in the hospital bed recovering in a lot of pain.
“I said, ‘Doc, how do we help those guys who don’t know?’ He said, ‘Man, we got to get the word out. We got to encourage these guys to go and get regular checkups.’ It was all stimulated by that conversation.”
Monday marked 11 weeks since Mourning’s surgery to remove his prostate. The diagnosis and surgery kept Mourning away from the Heat for some time, but he was back to travel with the team to Philadelphia and Boston for postseason games this season.
“Pat Riley, he’s the best. He’s extremely supportive,”said Mourning, who has been in an executive role with the Heat as the vice president of player programs since his playing career came to an end in 2008. “When I shared the news and I waited before I told him. I shouldn’t have waited as long as I did, but I just wanted to get a hold of what was going on. But once I gathered all the information and knew what I was going to do, he told me: ‘Take as much time as you need. Come back when you’re ready.’
“So he’s very supportive. He said he was there for me if I needed anything, obviously. But he said, take as much time as you need. I came back probably a lot sooner than I should have because I wanted to be there for the guys.”
Mourning dealt with another serious health issue 24 years ago when his NBA playing career was put on hold after being diagnosed with kidney disease in 2000. He underwent a successful kidney transplant in 2003.
Mourning, who was enshrined into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2014, played 15 seasons in the NBA. He spent 11 of those seasons with the Heat and is still the franchise’s all-time leader in blocked shots (1,625), while also ranking among the Heat’s all-time leaders in points (second), games played (third), minutes played (third), made field goals (third) and rebounds (second).
Mourning is one of six Heat players to have his jersey retired by the franchise and was on the roster that delivered the Heat’s first NBA championship in 2006.
Now, Mourning hopes to deliver a message that resonates after surviving prostate cancer.
“This is about keeping people alive, it truly is,” Mourning said. “I was lucky. There are a lot of people that won’t be as lucky as I am. But I feel like if I can reach them before it gets to that point and they’re able to make the right health decisions for themselves, that’s what this is all about. Me sitting here is about saving lives.”
This story was originally published June 5, 2024 at 8:55 AM.
