Enter The Dragon #2 - November 25, 2003
Mourning The Man
Gather round Netsfans, the Dragon has a story to tell.

It was like it was just yesterday, I was merely a wee lad, and sprouting up like those patches of grassy moss you see in the swamps of the great state of New Jersey. Back then, I understood the game of basketball but had neither affiliation nor unyielding bond to anyone that played the game on an amateur or professional level. Then in April of 1990, before my eyes were exposed to the evils of the game such as, but not limited to, greed, corruption, lying, and selfishness, I watched a college basketball game at the pinnacle of the NCAA tournament with a good friend. We were both unaware and ignorant to the morally destitute actions of those surrounding the game itself and not yet exposed to the pitfalls and perils of gambling and becoming attached both emotionally and financially. While we didn’t know it at the time, that night we saw a basketball game that played out with the intensity of a cage match and the grace of a ballet. That night we watched the UNLV Runnin’ Rebels trounce the Duke Blue Devils 103-73 in a game that resembled both a blowout and at the same time appeared to us as aesthetically perfect as basketball could get. The Rebels were artists and on that night they created their signature performance.

That night I became enthralled with a player who scored 22 points and grabbed 11 rebounds and perplexed at how he dominated the game in every way I could imagine. From that point on I could only dream of playing basketball in such a manner that would embody the near perfection of what I saw that April night in this player. From that night forward, I was a diehard fan of Larry Johnson.

The next year LJ's Rebels lost to Duke in the Final Four of the NCAA tournament and LJ went on to be the NBA’s #1 overall draft pick to the Charlotte Hornets. He went on to win NBA Rookie of the Year, but the Hornets still struggled and missed the playoffs. But the team would end up fortuitous that summer and land the #2 overall pick in the 1992 draft.

That brings me to the purpose of my story. The Charlotte Hornets would draft a center, Alonzo Mourning. I had another NBA star to rally around.

I was ecstatic.

I was now a full-fledged Hornets fan. I could see it all. LJ and Zo ruling the paint for years to come. Beating up on everyone on their way to one NBA title after the next. Soon enough friends saw what I saw, and became Hornets fans as well. I had all the gear. I had shirts, shorts, jackets, hats, socks, posters, and cards of both LJ and Zo that filled my room from floor to ceiling. Anytime the Hornets played the Nets at Continental I was there. I was lucky enough to make a trip to Charlotte to see a Hornets home game. One of my most prized possessions is an autographed LJ jersey that still hangs in my old room. I was on cloud nine. All I knew back then was LJ, Zo and the Hornets.

And Zo came through with an 18-footer with no time left to send the Celtics home in the playoffs of 1993. I saw a changing of the guard. My basketball dreams being played out right before me. When I woke from my basketball dreams, what ensued was a disaster.

LJ got rewarded with a major contract. The largest in NBA history. My naïve self thought it was great. Zo didn’t think so.

I heard about the locker room fighting and war of words between the two. I would believe none of it. Nothing could ever separate the two and even some small bickering wouldn’t stop the Hornets from being a force.

What could stop them was a herniated disk in LJs back. And then a trade that sent Zo to Miami.

I was completely distraught.

I stayed loyal to LJ because he was the guy I first followed to the NBA. He was the reason I became enthralled with the Hornets and it was chance that brought Zo to the team the next year. That was my logic, and I stuck with it.

LJ’s career was never the same after his back injury and my world was shaken even more when the Hornets could no longer afford his services and had to send him to the New York Knicks. I felt an allegiance to the Knicks if only because LJ was a key cog on that team alongside Patrick Ewing and others. I wasn’t sure if I could root for Zo on the Heat because I felt that he created the jealousy within the Hornets organization and wanted out. And now the Heat were bitter rivals of the Knicks.

And then things came full circle. You all know what I’m leading to. It all ended with Knicks coach Jeff Van Gundy clutching Zo’s leg for dear life like a child clutching a teddy bear during a nightmare.

I was that child.

I was horrified and I hated Zo as a result. It was entirely his fault. After all the fighting and history between the two I still sided with LJ and Zo was now an enemy. I could no longer root for him at any cost. Back then, I disliked no athlete more than I did Zo. I wanted nothing more then to see him fail and see LJ rise up again in spite of him.

In 1999, LJ hit a four-point play that pushed the Knicks to the Finals that year and send MSG into a frenzy. I reveled in the Knicks victory. Zo would that summer learn of his kidney ailment that would keep him out of basketball for extended periods of time.

I felt horrible.

In sports, you hope that your hated rival misses shots or makes bad plays. And when they hurt your beloved team you hate them even more. But learning of Zo’s news hurt me because I knew that his career would never be the same and whatever bad feelings I had going back to the separation of my once favorite basketball duo, I had them no longer. I wanted Zo to get back on the court because I knew how good he was, and that he would be sorely missed on the court. You never want to see someone go out like that. Not even a hated rival.

The next year I began a working stint with the New Jersey Nets. I would learn that LJ would not be able to play basketball any longer because of his back and would be forced to retire. The time seemed right for me to move on in my basketball fandom. I was proud to be a part of the Nets organization. I was proud to be a Netsfan.

While with the Nets, both working and fanwise, the basketball gods decided to smile on the once sad franchise. See I was a Hornets fan as a youth, but I knew of the Nets struggles. I knew of the Yinka Dares, Kevin Edwardses, Benoit Benjamins, Armon Gilliams, and Rex Walterses and the Whoop-de-damn-dos that had followed the franchises for years. I heard of the struggles and was prepared to accept them. I was with the Nets and I real soon felt the team’s fortunes change.

That glorious summer, I’d like to think that first came me, then Rod Thorn, then the #1 pick in the draft.

It was official, I was a bonafide Netsfan. I couldn’t get enough of the team. We all know what happens from here on out. But something happened this summer that I was not expecting. It was something that caught me off guard, but it shouldn’t have. I saw it in the news and rumor mills and didn’t think there was any way it could happen. And then it did.

Zo signed with our beloved Nets.

It was beautiful. Almost exactly the same as a girlfriend that you loved then had a rough breakup, only to smooth things over and fall in love all over again. I couldn’t wait for the season.

I was ecstatic all over again.

So it pains me a great deal that I had to read about Zo’s illness today and how it is officially going to force him to retire. Even if it was for just a short time, I’m glad he was with the team. Zo is part of a dying breed in the NBA. A warrior in every sense of the word, a guy who gave up his body, defended the paint and acted as if every play, every shot, every rebound, and every block was his last.

For the record I won’t go into the scuffle between Zo and K-Mart. I just hope that at some point Kenyon apologized. It’s the least he should do.

He may never read this, but as I fan, I just wanted to thank you, Zo, for all of the memories. I had the privilege of following your career from day one and it, while shortened, was an incredibily successful career and one that anyone would be proud to have. I wish nothing but the best health and happieness in whatever endeavors you encounter in your life after basketball.

It was a wild roller coaster ride with you but one that I’d gladly get on again.
-SwampDragon2

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