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Will, Chance & Fate - Real Life in the NBA By Tom Snow
The images are so clear in our minds; tall, lithe, athletes soaring through the air, seemingly able to defy gravity. Finely sculpted bodies glistening with sweat as they dart about, spinning, changing directions in a step, and whipping passes with amazing accuracy as a streaking teammate flies toward the basket. Surely there is no place in the pure physicality of professional basketball for common limitations of normal humans. How then do we reconcile the sad news from Miami? We now know that Miami Heat center Alonzo Mourning will miss at least one season while he receives treatment for Focal Segmental Glomerulosclerosis, a serious kidney disease. A two week long period of speculation ended when Mourning held a news conference Monday morning to disclose the details of his physical condition and prognosis. The origin or specific cause of the disease is unknown, but eerie similarities with the illness and subsequent kidney transplant that sidelined San Antonio Spurs forward Sean Elliott. Mourning, age 30, will receive a course of treatment including drug and dietary therapy. Alonzo Mourning is a classic example of why these young men, the men of the National Basketball Association, have often been referred to as the greatest of athletes. Their names and physical gifts are legendary: the leaping ability of David Thompson; the awesome strength of Shaquille O’Neal; the way that men like Julius Erving and Clyde Drexler could glide above the floor as if the laws of physics were temporarily suspended in their presence; and the impossible perfection of Michael Jordan, his body able to bend and torque as he willed, sometimes seeming to change directions in mid-flight. These men, and hundreds like them, combined strength, speed, and coordination in a way that made their exploits seem superhuman. Their exploits filled ever larger arenas and built a fan base for professional basketball, the most telegenic of sports. Their talent and the relative intimacy of basketball venues created an energy level that truly engaged fans. Jordan, Dr. J, Magic, Kareem, Isaiah, Bird, Hakeem, Shaq, Charles, Mr. Robinson, Zo, Kobe, and others, became cultural icons. Their popularity pierced previous racial, ethnic, generational, and social boundaries. Basketball, more than any other sport, spotlighted the potential for people diverse backgrounds to share interests and experiences together. The men of the NBA are our modern giants. Men possessing near mythical physical gifts.. They are a symbol of strength, endurance, and physical health. We never stopped to think that they were really just humans like the rest of us. When I’m squeezing my ever larger body into a stadium seat at an arena and balancing a tray of nachos and a hot dog on my lap while Grant Hill drives the floor and finishes with a thunderous dunk, I’m beyond the point of considering that most of life’s challenges and frailties confer no special respect to the beautiful and the gifted. The announcement by Alonzo Mourning that he is suffering from a potentially fatal kidney disease served as a sobering reminder that size, speed, and athleticism, the qualities upon which we judge athletes, are merely superficial. Tragically, Mourning’s announcement followed two other events in the past year that had hammered home the same theme. On January 12, Bobby Phills, a 30 year old guard playing on the Charlotte Hornets, left practice and got into a good-natured drag race with a teammate. Seconds into the race, he lost control of his vehicle, crashed, and was killed. Three months later, Malik Sealy of the Minnesota Timberwolves was driving home from a teammates birthday party when a drunk driver hit his vehicle head on. Sealy, also 30, was killed. The similarities between these men are obvious and laudable. Phills and Sealy were each extremely gifted athletes and, more importantly, highly regarded and very visible citizens. Much of the same can be said of Mourning. He is one of the iron men of the NBA. A man with an incredible work ethic and will, Mourning is also a well regarded professional who conducts himself with class and dignity. Beyond this, what is most striking is that these three tragic developments could happen in such rapid succession. And while the circumstances are different for all three men, and it is important to be optimistic that Mourning will recover from his illness, it is worth noting the varied paths that brought each man to his moment of destiny. Bobby Phills death arrived in a moment of exuberance. He and a teammate, fresh from a workout, in the prime of their lives, and in a symbolic flex of their considerable muscle and competitive spirit, made a poor decision that turned into tragedy. That the decision was rash, or irresponsible, or willful, does not undermine the horror and sadness of the result. Nor does it diminish in any way the character or value of the man who made it. Life requires a dash of challenge and everyone who truly lives, will, on occasion, takes chances that invite danger, or worse. Malik Sealy attended the birthday party of a teammate on the night of May 20, 2000. He left the party late that night and began the drive home. He could not, as a practical matter, account for the man who was speeding his way in another vehicle. Malik Sealy could not know that the man behind the wheel of that car was blind drunk. And Malik couldn’t know, would never expect, that the man would be driving in the wrong lane that night on Minnesota Hwy. 100. It is pure chance that Malik Sealy would find himself in the path of this lethal rolling weapon on that night. Maliks life, so full of achievement and promise, was cut short that night because, as unfair as it may seem, he was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Alonzo Mourning’s announcement that he would miss the 2000-2001 season while receiving treatment for a serious kidney disease stunned a basketball community already reeling from Sean Elliot’s similar experience, and the recent deaths of Bobby Phills and Malik Sealy. Mourning is one of the true giants of a big mans game. He brought great strength, a body builder’s physique, and white-hot intensity to the court every game. Focul Glomerulosclerosis is a disease that causes protein to be leaked slowly into the urine. The effect of this is a slow scarring, or sclerosis, of the kidneys. Unchecked, the kidneys eventually will stop functioning, and either dialysis or kidney transplant is required. The disease occurs most often among males, ages 15 to 30. The exact cause of the disease is unknown. Mourning may be able to avoid the most drastic consequences of this disease if his treatment program succeeds. He may even be able to play basketball again someday. But for the foreseeable future he will be facing his toughest foe, an invisible foe that fate has placed before him. Knowing Zo, and the way he approaches a tough battle, we can be confident that he summon all his courage and intensity and strength, and that he never back down. Hopefully, he will this fight. But what can’t be missed is the unsettling series of tragic events that have haunted the NBA over the past year. Life is a complex journey. And passing though life, we sometimes make poor choices, we are occasionally the victim of someone else’s bad decision, and sometimes we simply have hardship thrust upon us. This is the lottery of life, a lottery that makes no promises about tomorrow, but requires each of us to make the most of today. As we approach this NBA season, as the basketballs pound on the hardwood and their sound echoes through the arenas, as we watch the best athletes in the world accomplish dazzling physical feats, we should all remember Bobby Phills, Malik Sealy, and Alonzo Mourning. And we should remember that these great athletes are all just human, not really so different than ourselves. And remembering this, we can watch with even greater appreciation as they perform their craft before us, and inject excitement and entertainment into our lives, and the joy of playing and competing into their own. ____________ [ InsideHoops Home | Discuss this on the NBA Message Board ] Sign up for a free web-based email account @InsideHoops by clicking here. Basketball fans who don't use InsideHoops
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