WASHINGTON — Maybe it's so touching because Alonzo Mourning seemed so tough.
"A cartoon image of toughness," as our sports editor, Tom Jolly, puts it, "a rugged 6-foot-10, larger-than-life guy with a great work ethic, an aggressive player who had been the Knicks' archenemy when he played for Miami."
The enduring image of "Zo" to many fans was the night of April 30, 1998, when the Miami star slugged it out with the Knicks' Larry Johnson in the last second of a playoff game, with Knicks coach Jeff Van Gundy hanging on to Mr. Mourning's leg in a vain attempt to stop him.
But now that virile image has been supplanted with a vulnerable one: the 33-year-old walking away from his $23 million comeback deal with the Nets because his doctor says that his chronic kidney disease has grown so bad he can no longer play without risking cardiac arrest.
Upon learning that Mr. Mourning would need a kidney transplant, dozens of people from across the country, including some Knicks fans, called the Kidney and Urology Foundation to offer their kidneys.
Please read the rest of this column; it is not a sports story, I assure you.
