Standing at 7’0″ and weighing nearly 270 pounds, former NBA center Brendan Haywood certainly had the size to dominate the court. Haywood, who won an NBA championship with the Dallas Mavericks in 2011, entered the league in 2001 with the Washington Wizards. He had no trouble asserting his physical presence in college, playing for the University of North Carolina. There, he set an ACC single-season record with a .697 field goal percentage and notched a school record 10 blocks in a single game against Miami during his senior year.
However, the NBA was a different beast. One moment that truly made Haywood realize the jump in competition came during a preseason matchup against Miami Heat center Alonzo Mourning.
“I remember this one because my coach was Doug Collins, and Doug is a great coach. He’s incredible with scouting reports and details. I’m just getting into the league, learning guys’ tendencies,” Haywood explained on the “Run Your Race” podcast.
Haywood recalled Collins’ pregame instructions: “Before the game, he’s like, ‘Brandon, Zo only goes right. All you gotta do is slide your feet with him when he goes right and get big—affect that jump hook.’ I said, ‘Alright, coach, I got you.’”
Eager to prove he was worth the 20th overall draft pick, Haywood took the matchup seriously.
“Alonzo caught the ball on me, faced me up. All I can hear is coach’s voice in my head: ‘He only goes right, go right.’ Man, that man jabbed hard right. I slid with him—but he didn’t go right. I guess he was working on his game. He jabbed right, went hard left. I went right, he went left.”
Mourning, standing 6’10” and 261 pounds, surprised Haywood with his strength, speed, and newly developed left-hand game.
“I was like, ‘Man, I’m still a shot blocker.’ I went the wrong way, got ready to time him up at the rim—and boom! Hard dunk by Zo!” Haywood said. “It was preseason, so a lot of people didn’t see it, but that was my moment of, ‘Okay, this guy’s different.’”
Haywood reflected on the stark contrast between college and the pros: “At Carolina, I probably hadn’t gotten dunked on in four years because I could just stand in the middle of the lane. This was the first time I really got dunked on hard, in your face.”
Mourning, who enjoyed a 15-year NBA career with the Charlotte Hornets, Miami Heat, and New Jersey Nets, was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2014. His accolades include seven NBA All-Star selections, two NBA Defensive Player of the Year awards, and an NBA championship with the Miami Heat in 2006.
What do you think of this recollection by Brendan Haywood on getting dunked on by Alonzo Mourning his rookie season? Let us know in the comments.
