Basketball star retires

last updated 8 January 2015

East Rutherford, N.J.

New Jersey Nets center Alonzo Mourning said this week that he was quitting basketball because he needs a kidney transplant. The announcement came just months after Mourning signed a four-year, $20 million deal to play for the Nets. Mourning, 33, was diagnosed three years ago with focal segmental glomerulosclerosis, which can cause kidney failure. The four-time all-star missed most of the last three seasons, with the Miami Heat, because of the illness, but vowed to keep playing as long as he could. Doctors said Mourning’s condition had deteriorated so rapidly in recent weeks that it was no longer safe for him to play, and they launched a search for a donor. “If I’m going to do this,” Mourning said, “I need to do it right now.”