NBA legend Alonzo Mourning reveals recent cancer diagnosis

Jul 10, 2012; Hollywood, CA, USA; Miami Heat former center Alonzo Mourning speaks at the 2012 Gatorade national athlete of the year awards ceremony at the Loews Hollywood Hotel. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee/Image of Sport-USA TODAY Sports

Miami Heat legend Alonzo Mourning revealed on Monday that he was recently diagnosed with cancer, but he was fortunately able to undergo successful surgery.

Mourning told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski that the seven-time NBA All-Star was diagnosed with Stage 3 prostate cancer earlier this year. The cancer did not spread beyond Mourning’s prostate capsule, and he was declared cancer-free after having his prostate removed in mid-March.

The 54-year-old Mourning is now determined to become an advocate for middle-aged men to have routine prostate-specific antigen (PSA) blood tests to monitor themselves for prostate cancer.

“What scares me about this disease is that there are so many men walking around feeling great and have that cancer in them and they don’t know it,” Mourning said. “The only way to find out is to get their blood tested and get their PSA checked. There are 3.3 million men living in the U.S. with prostate cancer, and many don’t even know it. I was one of those guys.”

Mourning said a conversation he had at a social event three years ago inspired him to begin taking regular visits to a urologist, as he has a history of prostate cancer in his family. Doctors determined that his PSA scores were “creeping up,” which can be an indication of the presence of cancer.

Mourning, who resumed his NBA career more than two decades ago after undergoing a kidney transplant, was diagnosed with prostate cancer in February despite having no symptoms.

“I was in shock. I can’t tell you enough about how well my body felt,” Mourning told Wojnarowski. “I was in top-notch shape — running sprints, strong. The doctor told me that he couldn’t believe I had had a kidney transplant.”

Mourning spent the bulk of his NBA career with the Heat. He won a title with the team in 2006 and has been Miami’s vice president of player programs and development since 2009.

A two-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year, Mourning was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2014.