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• Zo's Summer Groove
• National Kidney Foundation
• Mr. Mourning's bio

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Tavis: Four years ago, Alonzo Mourning's terrific basketball career was derailed when he was diagnosed with kidney disease. Just before Christmas of last year, he underwent a successful kidney transplant and is now a highly visible spokesman for anemia and kidney disease. On July 16, the NBA all-star kicks off Office Depot's Zo's Summer Groove Number 8--man, 8 of these things now--which benefits local charities in south Florida. He joins us tonight from Miami. I'm always looking for an excuse to go to Miami, especially with that backdrop, Alonzo. How you living, man?

Alonzo Mourning: I'm doing great, Tavis. Thanks for having me.

Tavis: I'm glad to have you on. You know, if the papers and the news media didn't tell me there was something wrong with you, looking at you, I wouldn't know nothing was wrong with you.

Mourning: Well, you know, I give God all the praise, man, and I'm fortunate enough--you know, I am athletically inclined and I kind of built a base for myself and keeping myself in pretty good condition, so that helped with my recovery a lot.

Tavis: Yeah. That's a nice way to put it, athletically inclined. You're an all-star. You're more than athletically inclined. Speaking of all-stars, though, let's talk for a brief second before I get more into kidney disease and anemia, about Zo's Summer Groove. I know all about it, but for those who don't know, you've been doing this 8 years. You've raised a lot of money down in Miami for charities down there.

Mourning: Yes, we have, you know. We're fortunate enough the city has embraced it. We've been able to do it for 7 years, and this is the eighth year, and I'm really excited about it. It starts next weekend, July 16th through the 18th, and we raised over $3 million the past 7 years for abused and neglected children and for underprivileged kids, for the Children's Home Society, and 100 Black Men of America.

Tavis: Yeah. Great work, and I'm glad you're continuing to do it again. I'm always looking for an excuse to come to Miami, so maybe I'll see you next weekend in Miami, Zo.

Mourning: Hey, you know what? You're more than welcome to come down. I didn't know you were available, but, hey, you have an open invitation.

Tavis: I appreciate that. Let me talk about what America has come to know, of course, as your story, the issue of kidney disease. Before I get too deep into how you discovered it and what's happened over the last 4 years, let me ask first how the transplant is doing. How you feeling?

Mourning: Oh, I'm feeling great. Like I said, you know, I kind of built a base for myself, just keeping myself in great shape over all those years, and the doctors have credited my recovery, my fast recovery, to the fact that I've kept myself in such great condition. And technology has advanced so much over the years, you know, that the surgical procedure is a little bit different--a little less stressful on the body. And I had a dream team of doctors as well, you know, but I've been blessed having the right people around me, which helped me get through the whole process. But it's only--next Friday will be 7 months post-surgery, so I'm definitely blessed.

Tavis: I'm glad you said that, 'cause I wanted to ask if there is something known as that phase where you come out of the woods with regards to the transplant. You just mentioned you're 7 months away from surgery now--7 months post-surgery. When are you, if you ever are, out of the woods, so to speak?

Mourning: Well, you're never really out of the woods because there's always a possibility for some type of rejection, and there's several different types of rejection, you know. Believe it or not, a lot of people really don't know this, but I've already had a slight cellular rejection already. But because of the fact that my doctors have monitored me on a very close basis, they were able to catch it early and stop the process. So, like you said, as you get further and further along, you reduce your chances every day for rejection but at the same time there's always a possibility, so you're never really out of the woods. You just have to stay in close relationship with your doctor. Even though you're feeling good, you still got to stay on top of your body--how you eat, staying pretty active and things of that nature and taking your medicines. A lot of people don't want to take 'em, but you got to take your medicines.

Tavis: Your comment now raised a couple of questions for me. The first is, how it is that you go about living your best life, shall we say, when you know that at any point in time your body may reject this kidney that you have received. I mean, I can walk out this studio and get hit by a bus--it could happen to any of us at any point in time. But you live every day with the thought, somewhere, I guess, in the back of your mind, that your body may reject this. How do you live--I mean, juxtapose for me that thought in your mind with trying to live a quality life, your best life, every single day.

Mourning: Well, Tavis, I keep this strong, and if I keep this strong then my body's definitely gonna follow it. I always stay positive. I know that there's always possibility for the worst, you know, but I continue to stay positive and do all the things I need to do to make sure that I take care of my body, whether it be eating--I'm still very active. I work out, I have a trainer, and everybody asks me, 'You're working out. Why are you working out?' I say, 'I'm working out to stay in shape. I'm not trying to come back and play basketball.' This is something I've done all my career. So my body is accustomed to those types of activities. So my body's always been my business, so therefore I had to do the things I needed to do to take care of it.

You know, a lot of people are so concerned about what type of gas they put in their car before what they put in their mouths. And it's extremely important that we pay attention to our diets. You know, anybody with any of the anemic-related diseases and what have you, and any chronic kidney disorders, you gotta watch your sodium intake, your potassium intake. And it's extremely important that you stay in close contact, verbal contact, with your doctors, you know. So make him aware of how you're feeling, because there's some adjustments in your medicine that might need to be made, and if you ignore those things symptoms can get worse.

Tavis: You sound like a physician. Dr. Alonzo Mourning.

Mourning: Yeah, but you know what? Let me tell you what, man. It amazes me that a lot of people haven't educated themselves enough to know what's going on with their bodies. You know, when I found out exactly what I was dealing with, man, I got all these books, and I pulled stuff up off the Internet, and I was constantly in constant contact with my doctor, trying to educate myself on what in the world was going on, because I wanted to know. I didn't want to be foreign to any of this.

Tavis: How good must you feel, then, having an opportunity on a daily basis, or certainly a regular basis, to educate other people, to lead on this TV program about what they ought to be concerned about.

Mourning: Well, you know, it makes me feel good because when they hear it from me, I think it sinks in a little bit more because they see what I've had to go through, and they see, 'Hey, it's a professional athlete, you know, and he had to go through this, and he's back on his feet again. He looks well, you know.' These are the things that I've done to make sure that I'm looking and feeling well, and you can do it, too. You just have to, like I said, you gotta just kind of redirect your focus and your mind and understand that, hey, God has given you one life, you know. You gotta do the proper things to take care of it, you know.

And a lot of people don't want to go to the doctor on a regular basis because they're afraid of what the doctor might tell them, so they don't go at all. So they don't go at all. So it's extremely important that you do stay in close contact with your doctors, you know. A lot of people don't want to take the medicine because of side effects, you know. I mean, I still have some side effects from the anti-rejection medicine that I take, and it's probably something I'm gonna have to deal with for the rest of my life. I'm gonna have to be on those medicines, at least small dosages, for the rest of my life, so I'm gonna have to deal with some side effects. But to tell you the truth, those are minute compared to being on dialysis and any of the other things that other people are going through. So I'll deal with whatever I have to deal with as long as I don't reach that stage.

Tavis: Let me ask you, and I ask you this with all due respect, but you have mentioned that you've had a dream team of doctors.

Mourning: Correct. Yes.

Tavis: That costs money.

Mourning: Yes.

Tavis: You mentioned that you have a trainer. That costs money.

Mourning: All that costs money.

Tavis: It's a good thing that you've had these multi-million dollar contracts, 'cause you don't have a problem paying this, but what do you say to people, as you talk to them, about their difficulties, the challenges they face with kidney disease or anemia, when they don't have the pockets that Alonzo Mourning has?

Mourning: Well, first and foremost, you don't have to have all of those things in order to take care of your body.

Tavis: Right.

Mourning: You know, there're still so many other things that you can do. I mean, you can stay very much aware of what you put in your mouth. The fried foods, you know, the sodium intake. Take the salt shaker off the dinner table. Things of that nature. Those are things that attribute to the heart disease and the high blood pressure and what have you. Those are the little things that you can take care of yourself as well as the activities--you know, staying physically fit, staying active, you know. Cutting back on your alcohol intake or, I mean, cutting out smoking or what have you. All those things that we do to damage our bodies, we can do that ourselves. We don't need a whole lot of money to do those things.

And at the same time, fortunately enough, I've been blessed. I've been blessed, you know, to have those resources at my fingertips. But I have done a job in itself in trying to raise awareness and raise money that has definitely been channeled towards curing the chronic kidney disorder, dealing with focal glomerulosclerosis as well as helping to educate doctors as well as helping people who can't afford medication. So the fund that I put together, the fund for life, we raised over $2.5 million, you know. We have definitely started the process of finding the cure for that. So I'm trying to do my part and I'm trying to create as much awareness as possible, but, Tavis, I can't help the world, but I can put a spark in going in that direction.

Tavis: Yeah. Let me ask you, did you feel bad last season, 'cause I know you were such a competitor. Tell me how bad you felt, if at all, after you'd signed that 20-plus million-dollar contract with the Nets, that you were not around last season to help them make a run for it?

Mourning: Well, you know what, Tavis, I was very disappointed. Extremely disappointed, because I still feel like that I have something to offer to this game, and now that I got this new motor in me, man, I feel great, and I'm even more confident to want to get back out there and play again. But there's life after basketball. Once it's all said and done, whether you look at Patrick Ewing, Charles Barkley, Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, I mean, those guys understand that, hey, there's gonna come a time where the career is gonna end, you know. So there are so many other things that you have to offer, and those guys have definitely proven that, you know. And I have to come to that reality myself.

Tavis: But if your doctor told you that this new motor is working perfect, it's fine-tuned and you could come back and play a couple more seasons, would you, if your doctors told you that you could?

Mourning: You know what, I would sit down with my family and I would come to a decision. But it's nothing that I would want to rush into because, to tell you the truth, I think I put my time in. I really have, you know, and I think it was time well spent. There were still some other things that I wanted to do on the professional level, you know. But at the same time, I understand that it's important that Alonzo Mourning is around for his two children, for his wife, for all the other people that depend on him to be around. It's important that he's around for them, for the people that are beneficiaries of my foundation. It's important for Alonzo Mourning to be around for all those people, you know. So I think that if you look at the broader and the bigger picture and the bigger scheme of things, you know, I think those things are a whole lot more important than me running up and down the court, entertaining some people, throwing a ball into a basket.

Tavis: I suspect you're probably right, but just in case your doctor tells you that you can come back, we could use you out here in L.A., man.

Mourning: Well, I appreciate that. Thanks a lot.

Tavis: We could you use you out here in Laker land, if your doctor tells you that you can come back. Alonzo Mourning. Zo's Summer Groove weekend kicks off July, the 16th through the 18th in Miami, Florida. Zo continues to do everything he can to raise money. You've got some big names, man, this year. Bill Cosby, Dave Chappelle, Mo'Nique, Lebron James, Gary Payton, speaking of the Lakers. So, Zo, all the best to you next weekend, and you're welcome back here any time.

Mourning: Hey, ZSG.com, you can get all the information that you need.

Tavis: ZSG.com.

Mourning: Yes. Thanks.

Tavis: Thank you, Zo. All the best to you, man.

Mourning: Thanks, Tavis. God bless ya, man.

Tavis: Back at you. Up next on this program, actress Melissa Joan Hart. Stay with us.