In 2005, Alonzo Mourning made a famous return to the Miami Heat, a franchise that earlier signed him on a $105-million, 7-year deal, back in 1996, according to Sportrac. Following a stint with the New Jersey Nets, Alonzo returned to the Heat, with long-term rival Shaquille O’Neal as a new teammate. O’Neal, who had joined the franchise just a year before, harbored long-term resentment towards Mourning and had made a series of comments against him, over the years.
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However, the resentment vanished the moment he actually met his new teammate, according to Shaq’s 2011 book, Shaq Uncut.
“Alonzo Mourning wasn’t in Miami when I first got there. We had a history and not a very good one, so when Toronto bought out his contract Pat called and said, “Do you mind if we bring him in?” I said sure,” he said, before claiming that he did not like Mourning, simply because he thought the player was under the impression that he was better than O’Neal.
The two joined the NBA as the number one and two picks of the 1992 draft and had successful seasons. Mourning had claimed back then that he thought he deserved to win the Rookie of the Year award, something Shaq obviously did not agree with.
“He always thought he was better than me, or at least that’s how it looked from where I was standing, so I felt like I had to show him who was the top dog. When I got drafted No. 1 he was No. 2. We both had great rookie seasons, but I was picked Rookie of the Year, and he thought he should have won or at least been a co-winner with me,” he said.
Shaq had even compared the player to a BMW, and himself to a Bentley, when Mourning signed his $100 million+ deal with the Heat, back in 1995.
“And, when he signed that $100 million contract, I made a comment in the press that if you paid a BMW this much money, how much is a Bentley worth? I was the Bentley. He was the BMW. That kind of fueled our feud a little more. Of course once I met him I couldn’t believe what a perfect gentleman he was. He was so generous and courteous and I thought, Okay, I had this dawg all wrong,” he revealed.
Hence, while Shaq absolutely hated Mourning before becoming his teammate, all it took was one meeting between them to make him realize just how wrong he was, about his former rival. Hence, a notion that he carried since 1992, was only proven wrong when Shaq played alongside Mourning, way later, in 2005.
Shaquille O’Neal was gracious enough to realize his mistake
Looking back at the past feud, there is little doubt that Shaq was simply spurred on after Mourning initially held up his case for the 1992 ROTY award. That, alongside years of famous battles against the player, was enough for Shaq to continue the feud, generally on his own accord.
However, upon realizing his mistake almost 13 years later, Shaq was quick to apologize as well, according to Sports Illustrated. “I had beef with Alonzo Mourning. Then when he came to the Heat, I had to sit him down and apologize to him. I said, ‘You know what Alonzo, I was a hypocrite. I never knew you were this great.’ Alonzo Mourning is a great dude,” he said, effectively accepting that the ‘feud’ between them was his own, solo doing.
Of course, the two also went on to have success on the court. Mourning, who was Shaq’s backup center during his second stint, played his role in the 2006 championship-winning run, averaging 7.8 points and 5.5 rebounds. Alongside Dwyane Wade and Shaq, Mourning won what was to be his only ring.
