The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

For many Bahamian fans, the highlight of the Miami Heat’s training camp in the Bahamas will be today’s community outreach effort.

Hosted by former Heat star and now front office figure, Alonzo Mourning, the clinic will feature 150 student athletes in the Atlantis Resort’s Grand Ballroom, the site of the team’s training camp.

Several Heat players, from veterans to newcomers, expressed their excitement at the prospects of interacting with the young Bahamian fans.

“It’s great, it’s always nice to see and interact with kids who are your fans. I remember when I was a kid and the NBA players came to see us, I was hyped. It’s good for the community so we can give something back and I’m looking forward to it,” said starting point guard Goran Dragic. “I just want to explore the Bahamas, because this is the first time here for me. Unfortunately we’re here for business, it’s camp, so I’m not going to have enough time to look around but it’s good for the future and I’m going to come back with my family.”

Veteran and team captain Udonis Haslem said: “To go out and hang out with the kids, have fun and have a good time, I always look forward to an opportunity like that.

Off-season free agent additions to the Heat, Dion Waiters and Derrick Williams said they hope to use their status to positively  impact today’s group.

“When I was a little kid, I wished professional athletes would come in and see us and help us,” Williams said. “And so anytime you give back, especially to kids, I think that’s one of the best things to ever do.  To see the smile on the kids’ faces, that’s the best.”

Waiters said: “I can’t wait. I love the kids. What I do back home, everything I do is for the kids. So I can’t wait to meet them and just talk to them.”

Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra said the players have been fully engaged in the Bahamian experience from the moment they stepped off the plane to a Junkanoo rush-out in progress. 

The clinic gives them a brief opportunity to interact. “They’ll love it,” said Spoelstra, referring to the team. “It was great on the drive in on [Monday] we saw a couple courts outside and saw kids playing and everybody got up on the bus to look out. My guys will really enjoy it.”

Mourning, well known for his charitable work, established Alonzo Mourning Charities to aid at-risk children and enhance their lives and their families.

A kidney transplant recipient, he was a member of the Heat from 1995-2002 and again from 2005-2008. And he was a member of  the championship team in 2006 when they defeated the Dallas Mavericks.

He also launched the Zo’s Fund for Life to raise funds for research and education to fight focal glomerulosclerosis (FSGS), a nephritic syndrome in children and adolescents as well as a cause of kidney failure in adults - a condition he was also diagnosed with.