Hands
Bench Warmer
The Heat is expected Tuesday to formally introduce Jamaal Magloire, which would make him the fourth center under contract.
Still, one of the biggest questions in the middle for the Heat is a center who will not be under contract at the Sept. 27 start of training camp.
But that doesn't mean Alonzo Mourning won't be back, not after all the work he's put in since last December's devastating knee injury.
"We can't say, 'OK, we're slotting him in,' " Heat President Pat Riley said last week. "I mean, I'm going to absolutely respect Zo's desire to come back, but he will not be under contract at the start of the season.
"I'm going to sit down and talk to Zo, and Zo's going to continue to rehab and get to the point and see what he can do."
Mourning turns 39 in February. But neither age nor a kidney transplant have stopped the man who almost certainly will now be remembered as the greatest center in franchise history.
"We have to remember," Riley said, "that this guy has proven above and beyond a doubt that he is capable of coming back from anything. We can never, ever discount the size of this man's heart, his courage and his will that he could overcome this, too. So, there'll always be an open mind to that."
Still, one of the biggest questions in the middle for the Heat is a center who will not be under contract at the Sept. 27 start of training camp.
But that doesn't mean Alonzo Mourning won't be back, not after all the work he's put in since last December's devastating knee injury.
"We can't say, 'OK, we're slotting him in,' " Heat President Pat Riley said last week. "I mean, I'm going to absolutely respect Zo's desire to come back, but he will not be under contract at the start of the season.
"I'm going to sit down and talk to Zo, and Zo's going to continue to rehab and get to the point and see what he can do."
Mourning turns 39 in February. But neither age nor a kidney transplant have stopped the man who almost certainly will now be remembered as the greatest center in franchise history.
"We have to remember," Riley said, "that this guy has proven above and beyond a doubt that he is capable of coming back from anything. We can never, ever discount the size of this man's heart, his courage and his will that he could overcome this, too. So, there'll always be an open mind to that."