A Thorny situation


Nets' GM won't bash Mourning

MIAMI -- If Rod Thorn wanted to be completely objective, he'd bring up all the less flattering stuff.

He'd have to include the part about Alonzo Mourning's lack of gratitude and ceaseless grumbling after the Nets gave him an uninsured, $23.6 million contract in the summer of 2003 despite being a major medical risk.

He'd have to include the part about Mourning's famous intensity affecting the locker room, where some of the Nets -- even Kenyon Martin, for cryin' out loud -- just couldn't figure out why the great center couldn't lighten up once in a while.

He'd have to mention that Mourning had no business questioning the training staff's integrity a year after his departure from New Jersey, when he essentially accused the team of putting his health at risk by pushing him too hard -- even though he was the guy they had to beg to stay off the floor.

But that was Zo, Thorn figures.

He was a man who towered over other men, who dominated the defensive end of the floor, a man whose footfalls caused trembling.

And respect -- utmost respect.

Which is why Thorn chooses not to bring up all the bad stuff.

"Whatever personal differences we had, from the standpoint of effort, from the standpoint of perseverance, from being a tremendous teammate over the course of his career, very few were like this guy," Thorn said of Mourning, who underwent surgery yesterday to repair what is widely believed to be a career-ending patella tear.

"He played, played hard, never quit. And to do what he did is extraordinary: To come back and be a productive player after having a kidney transplant was unprecedented. So you have to always respect him for what he did."

The Nets all say they respect the future Hall of Famer, but his stay in New Jersey was anything but pleasant. The Nets acquired him after he had sat out the entire 2002-03 season, thinking he was the missing piece to a championship team.

But he lasted only 12 games before the transplant became a life-sustaining necessity.

He announced his intention to return in August 2004, but by then the Nets had been changed irrevocably -- by the trade of Martin, and by Jason Kidd's recovery from knee surgery. Mourning did not come back feeling like a part of the team left behind. He came back with an agenda to get out of Jersey as quickly as possible. He got his wish that December, after Vince Carter became available.

"When he got here, I definitely thought we were closer" to a title, Richard Jefferson recalled yesterday. "Everyone knew we were taking a risk, and it was unfortunate what happened. But we thought we were closer."

When asked whether he'll remember Mourning as a teammate or opponent, however, Jefferson's response is telling.

"Just as a competitor," he replied. "Even when he was on the team, he was a fierce competitor. He didn't care if he played with you or against you. I remember him a little as a teammate, but if someone asks me about Zo, it won't be as a guy I played with."

Remarkably, Jason Collins said the same thing.

"He was a great teammate, and I learned a lot from him," Collins said. "But I'll remember him as a competitor, a guy who will compete every single minute, and a great model for younger guys to look up to."

Thorn? He is the guy whose every personnel decision gets jotted down on a scorecard. In retrospect, the decision to sign Mourning was a mistake. But it was still something he felt he had to do, and it is hard to forget the headlines predicting 60 victories for a Nets team coming off consecutive trips to the NBA Finals.

"Only the way it ended up," Thorn said, when asked if he ever regretted the signing. "I just wish it didn't end up that way. But otherwise, the guy did everything you asked him to do. We took a helluva chance and he needed a transplant.

"Had he been able to play the way he played here in Miami in his second time around -- just that much, not be absolutely great, but good enough -- we'd be right there with anybody, no doubt about it."

Now, Mourning is gone -- perhaps forever, with the Nets episode a mere footnote to an illustrious career.

"And what about the way the guy goes out -- he got off the gurney and walked out," Thorn said, referring to the scene in Atlanta Wednesday. "It was, 'I'm not going out that way.' He's a Hall of Famer. Tremendous player. So tough. He just competed all night, every night. He came to play and came to win. I remember when he was young in Charlotte. That was like a guy we had never really seen before."