The NBA hasn’t seen many centers better than Alonzo Mourning in his prime. Mourning, a seven-time NBA All-Star, won the Defensive Player of the Year award twice in back-to-back years (1999, 2000). He’d be inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 2014 as recognition of his incredible NBA career.
The Miami Heat and Charlotte Hornets legend has played alongside some incredible names over his career. He was asked to name his five favorite by Udonis Haslem in a recent appearance on ‘The OGs.’
There are plenty of elite teammates Mourning had who weren’t mentioned here. His one-year stint on the New Jersey Nets in 2003-04 saw him share the court with the likes of Jason Kidd, Richard Jefferson, and Kenyon Martin, although it seems that stint was too short for Mourning to name them over the guys he shared the locker room with for longer.
A bigger absence could be Larry Johnson from his time on the Hornets, but the fact that Mourning named all former Heat players to Haslem shows he was likely favoring his stint with the team he now serves as Vice President of Player Programs and Development.
If that is the case, the biggest absence in the name comes to mind. Mourning shared the frontcourt with Shaquille O’Neal for three seasons on the Heat, with the pair even winning the 2006 NBA Championship together.
However, Mourning and Shaq were bitter rivals before they were ever teammates, so it makes sense for him not to be mentioned in this case.
What Mourning said about his favorite teammates shouldn’t be taken as a shot to Shaq because he had the spent the minutes prior to naming his favorite teammates discussing his relationship with Shaq.
Mourning went from a rival to being O’Neal’s backup in Miami, with the pair developing a strong relationship over that time. It was so strong that Shaq wanted to be inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2016 by Mourning.
