While he may have received $13 million a year to move south, part of what lured Alonzo Mourning from the Charlotte Hornets to the Miami Heat was the chance to suit up for Pat Riley.
"That was the clincher," Mourning said, shortly after the deal made on the first day of the season. "I will play under one of the best coaches to ever coach the game."
When on Sept. 2 he accepted the job of president and coach of the Heat, Riley was prepared to take on an unfamiliar assignment -- a team without a premier player. He had Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar while coaching the Los Angeles Lakers, and later Patrick Ewing with the New York Knicks.
But suddenly Riley -- who coached teams to first-place finishes in his first 12 seasons before having that string broken with a second-place finish by the Knicks last season -- had a team to be reckoned with the addition of Mourning.
The Heat has matched the best start in franchise history, taking a 6-2 record and a three-game winning streak into tonight's game against the Washington Bullets at the Baltimore Arena.
It was hard for Riley to control his joy after trading for Mourning. The Heat had to pay a price, as it sent starters Glen Rice, one of the best shooters in the league, Matt Geiger and point guard Khalid Reeves to Charlotte for Mourning.
"He has answered my prayers," Riley said of Mourning, right after the trade. "We feel we got back not one of the top centers in the league but, maybe one day, the best center in the league."
Mourning may not be the best, but he is definitely in that small group of elite centers in the league.
Standing 6 feet 10, Mourning is an intimidating presence in the middle. His 4.4 blocks per game this season leads the league, and last Friday he blocked seven shots against the Atlanta Hawks, one short of the team record set by Rony Seikaly.
"That [guy] was everywhere," said Atlanta guard Steve Smith. "If he wasn't there, I'd have had 50. I'd have had 70, 80 layups. Every time I went at [Miami guard Sasha Danilovic], I kept hearing him calling for help, going, 'Over here, Zo. Over here, Zo.' "
With his defensive play Miami has also become the team's top defensive team, allowing an NBA-low 86.5 points per game. Not bad for a team that defensively has allowed teams to average better than 100 points in each NBA season since entering the league in 1988.
