A serious kidney condition ended Alonzo Mourning’s NBA career, but not his fight. The Miami Heat legend overcame FSGS to make a comeback never before seen in the history of the league. He rode off into the sunset after helping the franchise to its first championship, fought prostate cancer, and became a champion for those dealing with similar battles. Two decades after the championship, Zo is back in the Heat fold, this time to help one of their own.

As the Miami Heat prepares for the Play-In Tournament, they’re going to look at the resilient spirit of Rob Pimental, the team’s Director of Team Operations and huge backing of Alonzo Mourning. Pimental has navigated the 82-game NBA schedule while battling chronic kidney disease.

Pimental, who was diagnosed over the summer and requires both a kidney and pancreas transplant, has found an unwavering ally in a man who knows his struggle intimately. Speaking to ESPN, Zo spoke about his own experience getting a kidney transplant in 2003.

“It’s been 22 years for me post-transplant, you know. And immediately when I found out what Rob was going through—first of all, he’s a trooper. He’s a fighter, and he’s inspired me through this whole thing to continue to do the things that I’m doing, you know, to stay healthy, you know, and not find any excuses whatsoever,” Mourning said.

For Pimental, there have been limitations like he’s unable to travel with the team on away games and he gets tired easily. But not only has Zo has been there by his side for advice and encouragement, but the Miami Heat organization is supporting their staffer through this.

“He’s been there if I ever needed anything,” Pimental said. “If I had any questions or just needed to talk to somebody, he’s gone through it. So, it’s been nice to just be able to walk upstairs and, you know, pull him aside.”

Despite undergoing daily dialysis and facing the exhaustion inherent to the disease, Pimental has remained a fixture at Kaseya Center. It’s becoming another example of the ‘family’ sentiment inherent to Heat Culture.

Alonzo Mourning’s story became part of Miami Heat’s identity

The Miami Heat, under Pat Riley’s reign, is intimately familiar with this exact scenario. After being diagnosed with focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS), Alonzo Mourning had retired from the NBA. But following the kidney transplant, he made a remarkable comeback in the 2004-05 season, when Miami got Shaquille O’Neal.

The effort that Zo put into his health is best illustrated by Shaq, who counted him as a professional rival and ‘hated’ the guy. Apparently Pat Riley used to motivate the Big Aristotle to get fitter by parading a shirtless Alonzo Mourning, who had just undergone a kidney transplant a year ago. So he was not O’Neal’s favorite person despite becoming best friends. Zo even got Shaq to fix his diet.

Despite the hilarity, for Alonzo Mourning, seeing Pimental’s daily battle is a mirror of his own history. Mourning has overcome stage 3 prostate cancer and looks as fit as any NBA player right now. Yet he touts Pimental for keeping his spirits up. “He’s inspired me through this whole thing… because regardless of how bad you got it, there’s somebody else out there going through something a whole lot worse.”

The duo is leveraging their combined visibility to address a staggering global health crisis. According to Mourning, over 800 million people worldwide suffer from kidney disease, with more than 100,000 currently on the transplant waiting list.

They also made an appeal for organ donation, including for Pimental. “Obviously, if somebody out there is interested in, you know, donating a kidney to me personally, I’m okay with that,” he said and Mourning quickly backed him up, reminding viewers that transplantation saved his life 22 years ago and continues to allow him to live productively.

As Pimental “patiently waits” for a kidney transplant, he does so with the backing of a Hall of Famer who proved that a diagnosis isn’t the end of the game, it’s just a mid-season adjustment.