Thursday, April 2nd, 2009 at 5:37 pm  |  23 responses

Zo Fresh Zo Clean

Don’t forget Alonzo Mourning’s a Hall of Famer.

Alonzo MourningPhoto by Atiba  Jefferson
Originally published in SLAM 52

Zo was among the last of a dying breed: bangers who possessed real skill. Now that he’s left the court for the last time, we salute you. Through the illness and the injury he always brought his all. We’ll miss you. —Tzvi Twersky

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  • ab_40

    ah the good old tough miami heat days… good times

  • http://fdklf.com Jukai

    Good time for this photo now that Zo is coming out telling players to “STFU and take a paycut!”

  • ugly_fish

    Sigh…i miss 2001.

  • http://hibachi20.blogspot.com Moose

    I loved Dave Zirin’s piece on him in the latest SLAM ish.

  • http://ittakesanationofmillionstoholdthissac.blogspot.com ciolkstar

    He was a warrior.

  • jacori robinson

    zo was a beast i just turned 14 and zo is in my top 10 of the all time greats me

  • Teddy-the-Bear

    An MVP, and deservedly so.

  • Teddy-the-Bear

    Since I respect him, I’m going to refrain from calling Jukai an idiot, even though he is one.

  • Jacob

    at least he won a title before he left the game

  • chris

    one of my all time favorite players. Too bad Im not old enough to have watched him his whole career.

  • I am the walrus

    Remember when he was good? Like last season…

  • PArson

    They REALLY don’t make em like this no more. Does anyone remember the great fights between MIami and the Knicks when the Knicks were relevant? Good times…

  • arthur

    One of the best spine messages, too

  • larrylegend

    LJ vs. Zo….priceless

  • http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/scoreboard Fred34

    “Dying bread”? Like baguette? Love Zo – HOFer, immense heart, intense cat, great human being.

  • Ken

    Zo was a great player, lots of passion, and I’m glad he got a ring. That said, he was pretty whiny with the Nets, and screwed Toronto. Also, he never carried a team to the finals, much less a championship. He won a ring, but as a backup…HOF? No. Great player? Definitely.

  • http://www.twahc.blogspot.com/ twahc

    I think Zo had a roller coaster ride in his career and he had a great ride.

  • pablo (from argentina)

    Respect

  • http://www.shawn-kemps-offspring.blogspot.com Eboy

    Memories,
    Like the corners of my mind
    Misty water-colored memories
    Of the way we were
    Scattered pictures,
    Of the smiles we left behind
    Smiles we gave to one another
    For the way we were
    Can it be that it was all so simple then?
    Or has time re-written every line?
    If we had the chance to do it all again
    Tell me, would we? could we?
    Memries, may be beautiful and yet
    Whats too painful to remember
    We simply choose to forget
    So its the laughter
    We will remember
    Whenever we remember…
    The way we were…

  • http://trulyhoops.blogspot.com Collin

    im just happy he won a championship during his career, i didn’t want him to retire like ewing, barkley, and malone did, and not win a ring. i always get pissed when people say that he didn’t play a big role in the 2006 playoffs, if he wouldn’t have been there, the heat would have had a tough time winnin that title. if any player symbolizes what a hall of famer is, it is probably him.

  • vmcb

    zo fresh and zo clean! Great career, although since I only started wathing ball religiously in ’05, my greatest memories of Zo will be when he did Toronto dirty and then got posterized by Vince a while later.

  • j-smoov 5

    Zo, is easily a HOFer! Thanks for giving it 110% Zo!

  • Prinncejewel

    Zo HOFer DEFINITELY. Ken seems to forget that there are HOFers that never won a ring: Wilkins, Dantley, Ewing & Barkley to name a few. Mc Adoo won his wo rings with the Lakers as a sixth man. I agree with Collin without Zo’s contribution Miami would have had a hard time winning. Can we forget his five blocks in Game six. Zo won a ring as a backup as a contributor not a stiff. Miami had 10 blocks in Game 6 Zo had 5 AND IMMEASURABLE defensive intensity. The ULTIMATE WARRIOR always gave 110% only injuries and his medical problem ever slowed him down. Now he has retired. The next step: THE HALL OF FAME.

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