MIAMI — Alonzo Mourning laughs when it comes to the subject of good-luck charms and his impending appearance as the Miami Heat’s on-stage representative at Sunday’s NBA draft lottery in Chicago.
“Lucky?” he said, with an intonation of it clearly not standing as the word of choice. “No, not going to say that.
“Blessed and fortunate.”
In the end, the longshot process will be out of Mourning’s control, the actual drawing to be conducted prior to the 3 p.m. airing on ABC, with Heat assistant general manager Adam Simon to represent the team in that behind-the-scenes element of the production.
For Mourning, it’s simply a matter of sitting on stage behind the Heat logo and seeing if the team’s 1% chance at the first-pick or 4.8% chance of one of the first four selections falls in the team’s favor. Otherwise, as the No. 13 seed in the random-but-weighted drawing, the Heat will be slotted in at No. 13 or No. 14 in the June 23 first round of the draft.
Still, if the Heat choose to be represented by someone “blessed and fortunate,” then Mourning, the former Heat center and current team executive, said he is more than the man for the moment.
Frank Franklin II/AP
Alonzo Mourning represents the Miami Heat at one of the team’s previous visits to the NBA draft lottery. (Frank Franklin II/AP)
“I will tell you this,” he said earlier this week, “I feel like I’m extremely blessed and highly fortunate. God has given me countless opportunities through last year’s two heart surgeries. My Stage 3 three prostate cancer that I had, catching that early before it metastasized. And then my kidney transplant.”
As in the kidney illness discovered when Mourning returned to the Heat with gold from the 2000 Sydney Olympics only to learn of major kidney illness that would sidetrack his Hall of Fame career.
So to Mourning, leave luck to others on the lottery dais.
He, instead, is flush with good fortune.
This will be Mourning’s fourth appearance as the Heat’s on-stage representative, with the Heat in their previous three visits leaving the lottery in the position they entered, at No. 10 in 2015 (Justise Winslow), No. 14 in 2017 (Bam Adebayo) and No. 13 in 2019 (Tyler Herro).
Mourning views those past two visits as success stories because of what was mined from the Adebayo and Herro picks.
“Those two gentlemen have definitely changed our franchise for the better,” he said. “Have we accomplished that ultimate goal? No, but they got us there, to the (NBA) Finals. They helped get us there a couple of times. I’m hoping that this opportunity will be no different.”
Actually he assuredly would be within his rights to hope for more, with the draft as loaded as it has been in years, particularly at the top, with prospects such as BYU forward AJ Dybantsa, Kansas wing Darryn Peterson, Duke big man Cameron Boozer, North Carolina big man Caleb Wilson, Illinois wing Keaton Wagler, Arkansas guard Darius Acuff Jr. and Houston guard Kingston Flemings.
Still, it’s not as if Mourning can change the lottery game as he did with his defense and his dunks. So just sit and smile, a departure from a career built on scowl.
“It’s all part of the process of you representing your team, your franchise,” he said. “And ultimately, none of us know how these picks are going to turn out. We all leave it to chance. And we all trust that our organizations will help develop the player that we draft.”
But if the Heat logo is not revealed at No. 14 or No. 13 as the reverse order is revealed on that stage, meaning a jump to one of the top picks?
Well considering the previous heart issues, perhaps a defibrillator on hand, just in case?
“I’d be in shock,” Mourning, 56, said with another laugh. “Because the chances are slim for us, but it’s still a possibility.”
So perhaps paddles ready.
“I would celebrate like no other,” Mourning continued. “I’d be jumping up and down.”
Miami Heat Vice President Alonzo Mourning checks his cell phone before the 2015 NBA draft lottery, Tuesday, May 19, 2015, in New York. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)
Preseason tickets
The Heat have announced their home preseason schedule for next season, with tickets for those games now on sale.
The three home exhibitions prior to next season are at Kaseya Center on Oct. 8 vs. the New Orleans Pelicans, Oct. 10 vs. Minnesota Timberwolves and Oct. 14 vs. Brooklyn Nets.
The road portion of the preseason schedule will be released at a later date, with the 2026-27 NBA regular-season schedule again expected to be released in early August.