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Basketball Hall of Fame center Alonzo Mourning revealed that he recently underwent surgery to remove his prostate after being diagnosed with with Stage 3 prostate cancer during an exclusive interview with ESPN Monday (June 3) morning.
Mourning, 53, confirmed that he's now cancer free as it didn't spread beyond the prostate capsule prior to the procedure in mid-March and is advising more men to check regularly.
"What scares me about this disease is that there are so many men walking around feeling great and have that cancer in them and they don't know it," Mourning told ESPN. "The only way to find out is to get their blood tested and get their PSA checked. There are 3.3 million men living in the U.S. with prostate cancer, and many don't even know it. I was one of those guys."
Mourning, who underwent a successful kidney transplant during his Hall of Fame career, was considered to be "at risk" as his urologist, Dr. Maury Joayson, told him his PSA scores were "creeping up" in late 2022. Rising PSA scores are considered to be a warning sign of prostate cancer, so the former NBA champion underwent an MRI screening, which revealed some "shadows" in the imaging and necessitated a biopsy for February 23.
Dr. Sanoj Punnen, a urologic oncologist at the University of Miami, notified Mourning that he had a Gleason score of eight, which reflected a high grade of prostate cancer, soon after.
"And Dr. Punnen tells me, 'I want to get a PET scan immediately to make sure cancer hasn't spread through your body,'" Mourning told ESPN. "I was in shock. I can't tell you enough about how well my body felt. I was in top-notch shape -- running sprints, strong. The doctor told me that he couldn't believe I had had a kidney transplant.
"My partner, Mariona, is waiting for me outside the PET scan, and we are nervous as hell. I'm sitting in the machine with my arms over my head and my mind racing -- waiting for the technician to read the scan. We ended up in a cold waiting room waiting for the tech to come in and finally he looks at us and says he's got good news: The cancer is still in the [prostate] capsule and hasn't spread."
Mourning was selected by the Charlotte Hornets at No. 2 overall in the 1992 NBA Draft and spent his first three seasons with the franchise before being traded to the Miami Heat after rejecting a contract extension. The former Georgetown standout spent the next seven seasons with the Heat -- missing the entire 2002-03 season due to kidney disease -- before joining the then-New Jersey Nets for the 2003-04 season and being traded back to Miami midway through the 2004-05 campaign.
Mourning is a two-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year, seven-time All-Star, an All-NBA First Team selection in 1999 and Second Team selection in 2000, two-time All-Defensive Team selection and a two-time NBA blocks leader.