Alonzo Mourning was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame. (GETTY IMAGES)

Before Dwyane Wade became the unofficial mayor of South Beach, the face of the Miami Heat franchise was Alonzo Mourning.

You can’t write the history of the Heat without mentioning the man who embodied everything team president Pat Riley preaches.

“When you talk about Alonzo … what it comes down to is he’s the absolute, ultimate warrior,” Riley said about the 6-10 center who was recently inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Mass. He joined Mitch Richmond, Bob Leonard, Nat Clifton, Sarunas Marciulionis, Guy Rodgers, Nolan Richardson, Gary Williams and former NBA commissioner David Stern in the class of 2014.

“Nobody I’ve been around has more blood and sweat equity in this game than this man, Alonzo,” Riley said. “He gave everything he had to the game, but, as a competitor, never gave an inch.”

Riley and Mourning are connected at the hip. They are similar in a lot of ways. They’re both very driven, almost maniacal to a point, and will stretch themselves to the absolutely limit to achieve their goal.

When Riley left New York for Miami in 1995, he needed an anchor. Riley brought Mourning with him to Miami and inked him to a $100 million contract. Riley built his squad around his then 25-year-old big man armed with WWE-like biceps and a tenacious approach only a drill sergeant could love.

Zo was coming off three very productive years with the Charlotte Hornets, but he had to share the spotlight with Larry Johnson. In Miami, Zo was the undisputed superstar in a city starving for a winner. Behind Mourning’s effort and energy, the Heat became one of the top teams in the Eastern Conference. Miami reached the conference finals in 1997, losing to Michael Jordan’s Bulls, but never went beyond that. Most of Zo’s playoff runs ended in misery, mostly at the hands of the New York Knicks.

Mourning’s first stint with the Heat abruptly ended in 2000 when he was diagnosed with a rare kidney disease. He returned to action in 2003-04 season with the New Jersey Nets but he was never the same player.

After briefly contemplating retirement, the NBA’s two-time defensive player of the year returned to the Heat in 2005 to join forces with Wade and his old nemesis Shaquille O’Neal. Mourning accepted a reduced role because he knew Wade and Shaq can get him that elusive championship ring.

His time finally came in the following season when the Heat defeated the Dallas Mavericks in six games. In the deciding Game 6, Mourning managed to reach back into his depleted tank and found the old Zo. He had six blocks in the game and had one monster dunk that fired up the troops.

Mourning was a self-made player. He often went up against bigger centers in the league, but no one could outworked him. His legacy was more about effort and energy, and statistics were always secondary to winning.

If you asked Riley if he could carve out the perfect Miami Heat player, he would look like Alonzo Mourning.

LeBron James came up short in his quest for a three-peat. (GETTY IMAGES)

Before Cleveland begins throwing a victory parade in honor of his royal highness, King James, there is still that 5-10 percent chance he could change his mind.

But if Chris Sheridan of SheridanHoops.com is 100 percent right on his 90 percent reporting that LeBron James will be returning to Cleveland to play for the Cavaliers, then the Cavaliers just won the lottery for a fourth time (LeBron in 2003, once with Kyrie Irving in 2011, and this year with Andrew Wiggins and LeBron again).

The four-time NBA MVP hinted he wanted to to stay with the Heat, but returning to the Cavaliers has always been on his mind since he left in 2010. The much maligned Decision 2010 is a part of his legacy that he’d like to correct, and going back to the Cavaliers will definitely wipe the slate clean.

This is not the summer of 2010. LeBron is at a different place now in his life. He’s married. He’s got kids. He’s got two championship rings. Life is good for King James.

”I just want to win. That’s all that matters to me,” James said after emerging from the final Miami Heat team meeting.

”I feel more at ease this time,” James said, adding that ”2010, it was out of control. It was the craziest summer I’ve ever been a part of. … I’m definitely in a better place right now even though in 2010 I got put out in the postseason earlier than I expected or didn’t accomplish what I wanted to, and I have kind of the same feeling now.”

Ohio is home to LeBron, and it sounds like, feels like, looks like he is ready to come home.

Sheridan’s story was posted on July 9 and it got more than 10,000 retweets and more than 2,300 favorites. The post read: LeBron James is returning to the Cleveland Cavaliers, a source tells Sheridanhoops.com. @kingjames #LeBronToClev

Immediately, Cleveland media and fans went bonkers.

What added fuel to fire was the move made by the Cavaliers. They traded point guard Jarrett Jack and got nearly nothing in return, clearing serious cap space.

Outside of The Decision in 2010, James has made sound decisions when it comes to his career on and off the court. He inked huge commercial deals with Samsung, Beats, Nike, McDonald’s and Coca-Cola. He ranks No. 2 on Forbes’ list of highest-earning athletes-entertainers behind only Beyonce. Money won’t be the driving force behind this latest decision for LeBron.

The only thing that matters to LeBron is winning, and the road to the NBA Finals is much easier in the Eastern Conference than the Western Conference. If there is a team that can pull LeBron away from Miami, it’s Cleveland.

Since signing with the Heat, LeBron’s seasons have ended in the NBA Finals. Only Bill Russell’s Celtics, Magic Johnson’s Lakers and Larry Bird’s Celtics have made four straight trips to The Finals. Michael Jordan never did that.

This season, the Spurs were the better team. The Heat simply reached its maximum level and couldn’t shift to fifth gear when Erik Spoelstra stepped on the gas pedal.

No team and no player have logged more minutes in the past four seasons than LeBron and Co. But no team and no player have enjoyed more success than LeBron and Co. in the last four seasons.

But a declining Wade and an aging roster has made LeBron rethink his Miami status. He can no longer count on Wade as his Robin. Wade has become more like Alfred The Butler. Bosh is still in his prime but would like to return to his old position at power forward. He has a massive offer on the table from Houston, and once James bolts for Cleveland Bosh will be penning his signature on the Houston deal.

When Spoelstra was asked why James, Wade and Bosh should all stay the course in Miami, he pointed to the Heat’s solid foundation.

”We have a great track record,” Spoelstra said. “And we have a championship, first-class organization. That is our best selling pitch.”

James said he didn’t need to hear what Miami has to offer. He already knows.

”I understand what this team and this franchise brings to the table,” James said. ”That’s what Riles is so great at and obviously Spo’s going to get into it and see guys who can help us get better.

“Every team in the NBA continues to get better every year and we need to get better as well. We have some holes that need to be filled.”

That doesn’t sound like a guy who is ready to take his talents elsewhere. But he has every right to change his mind.

Head coach Erik Spoelstra is three wins away from leading the Miami Heat to a second NBA title. (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

Erik Spoelstra arguably has the second-toughest job in America, and the only person who has more pressure on him to perform and please everyone is Barack Obama.

Much like the president of the United States, the 41-year-old head coach of the Miami Heat is constantly second-guessed and the expectations are above and beyond anyone could ever imagine. Everyone expects the Heat to win a title, and when they lose a game it seems like the vultures start circling over Spoelstra’s head.

Spoelstra, who is the first Filipino-American to coach in the NBA, took a ton of heat for failing to deliver a championship last season and if he doesn’t win a championship this season you know he will certainly hear it from experts and basketball and fans to call for his resignation.

He heard it during the Heat-Pacers series when his team got down 2-1 and he heard it when the Heat got down 3-2 against the Celtics in the Eastern Conference finals.

But all that nonsense — Spoelstra terms it “noise” — that surrounds him doesn’t bother the former Heat video coordinator. He knows it comes with the territory of being the coach of the championship-or-bust team, and he embraces the challenge.

“I think Spo has been great. He’s been challenged the last two years by a lot of people, but I think he’s been awesome,” LeBron James said about his coach.”

“I mean two straight Finals appearances, you know. He has put us in position to win each and every game,” James continued. “For me our relationship has grown over the last two years. Because we’ve been around each we know what we like and our dislikes.”

The biggest adjustment Spoelstra has made this season is listen. He openly admitted that he communicates with Heat president Pat Riley and is not ashamed to ask the Hall-of-Famer for advice.

“We talk all the time. It’s almost as if he’s a member of my staff,” Spoelstra said. “If I’m not calling him or bumping into him at the office I’m texting him. Our dialogue has been very good.”

His dialogue and open communication with his players has also improved and that fact is not lost on the team’s most valuable player.

“He’s gonna continue to grow and I hope I can continue to grow around him,” James said. “I think he’s been more open this year and allowed some of the players to voice their opinion in practice or in games, no matter what the magnitude of the game is. We trust him he trust us.”

James added, “At the end of the day he has the last call. As a player you love the fact that he wants to hear what you see out on the floor during a game or in the film session.”

Spoelstra’s ability to have a bunker mentality, a thing he preaches to his team this postseason, affords him the luxury to remain calm when the water level of criticism rises and he doesn’t seem to flinch when the daggers from the naysayers start flying in his face.

Like a boxer who has taken his share of punches in a championship fight, Spoelstra and the Heat have been knocked down a few times in these playoffs but the team has managed to pick itself up off the mat.

“He does a good job of keeping us motivated. Every game he comes in with something,” James said. “He gets us prepared by the Xs and O’s but also by other things to prepare us for the game.”

Spoelstra is focused at the task at hand and he has matured from last season’s NBA Finals growing pains. In fact he doesn’t even to talk about last year. He is well aware of what lies ahead and all the perils of being the most scrutinized coach in the sport.

Having sat next to Riley when the Heat won the title in 2006, Spoelstra knows what it takes to win a championship.

Joel Huerto is the editor and publisher of OneManFastBreak.net. Follow him on Twitter @onemanfastbreak.

Wade has publicly said on numerous occasions that he doesn’t want to leave Miami, and all signs point to a contract extension between the Heat and the 2008-09 NBA scoring champion.

“I want to be in Miami,” Wade recently told the Miami Herald.

Once the Heat were eliminated from the 2010 NBA playoffs, Wade made it clear to team president Pat Riley and owner Micky Arison that he needs more help and  a roster upgrade was necessary in order for the Heat to be able to compete for another championship.

“There’s no pressure on me. I’ve said where my heart is. You just have to see things being done and accomplished,” Wade said at a postgame news conference after the Heat lost Game 5 in Boston.

Well, apparently Wade has seen enough “things being done and accomplished” that he seems to be on the verge of re-signing with the only NBA franchise he has called home since he came to the league in 2003.

The Heat are actively pursuing Wade’s 2003 classmates in James and Bosh, and other big-name free agents, with D-Wade leading the recruiting. All three are very close friends, and they’ve all broached the subject of possibly playing on the same team to increase their chances of winning a title.

Wade already has a championship ring, but James and Bosh are thirsting for their first. James has become increasing frustrated with his playoff disappointments with the Cavaliers while Bosh has been an afterthought in Toronto. Having Wade, James and Bosh on one roster doesn’t guarantee a championship, but it definitely affords the Heat an enormous amount of star power and could challenge the Los Angeles Lakers in terms of popularity.

Bosh is the key to the whole deal. He is the third wheel in this star-studded triangle. Wade and James should get their maximum deals so that leaves Bosh with a little less than what he’s asking for.

The Heat have had their eye on Bosh since 2003, and was reportedly ready to make the former Georgia Tech standout their first-round selection until Toronto snagged him at No. 4 and the Heat “settled” for Wade at No. 5.

Miami is expected to dump 10 contracts this summer, giving the team plenty of cap space to sign two maximum contracts and possibly a third All-Star if it can somehow unload Michael Beasley’s contract to another sucker… I mean another team.

Is South Beach big enough to house LeBron and D-Wade?

“It’s funny to hear scenarios, for people to tell you that you know and you thought about it,” Wade told the Associated Press. “In New York, they kind of made me say, tried to make me say that I have thought about it or I have talked to LeBron. It’s amazing to me that people are inside my head that way. I don’t know.”

The Heat have somewhat of an advantage over other teams when it comes to dealing with this year’s free-agent drama because Riley has been through this taxing process before.

In 1996, he managed to convince Alonzo Mourning to leave the hive in Charlotte and come to South Beach and become the honorary Mayor of Miami. OK, maybe Mourning didn’t become the mayor but he at least pocketed a cool $100 million contract and the keys to the Heat franchise.

Then, in 2004, Riley pulled off one of the biggest trades in NBA history when he acquired Shaquille O’Neal from the Los Angeles Lakers for Lamar Odom, Caron Butler, Brian Grant and a first-round pick.

After bringing the Big Fella to South Beach, Riley reworked the team into a championship contender for the next two seasons, picking up veterans Gary Payton and Mourning, and trading for Antoine Walker, Jason Williams and James Posey. The final piece was Riley himself, pushing aside Stan Van Gundy and coaching the Heat to the 2006 NBA title.

Does Riley have another blockbuster move left in him?

We shall see. The only thing for sure is that Wade will be playing with another All-Star (or two) in Miami when the 2009-10 season arrives.

Wade was noncommittal as usually, leaving the door open for a possible move elsewhere when he decides to opt out of his Heat contract and become a free agent this summer. He told the Associated Press that whenever he goes out in public he gets asked, “Are you staying or going?”

“If I see 10 people, it happens 10 times,” Wade said, according to AP. “Whether it’s a kid or a grown person, it doesn’t matter.”

Is he staying? Or, is he going?

It’s the million dollar question Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra, president Pat Riley and owner Mickey Arison must deal with for the next few months as Wade weighs his options – and he has plenty of viable options.

Wade is among an elite group of NBA superstars, which includes LeBron James, Chris Bosh, Amare Stoudemire, Carlos Boozer, Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, Dirk Nowitzki and Joe Johnson, who can all exercise their rights to become free agents July 1. And for months, Wade has insisted that he won’t truly begin thinking about that process until this season ends.

Well, the Boston Celtics officially put Wade on the clock after the Heat was eliminated in the first round of the 2010 playoffs.

Wade has publicly and privately said that his preference is to stay in Miami, the franchise that drafted him in 2003, as long as the organization commits to an improved roster that will allow him to have another shot at winning a NBA title. Since winning the 2006 NBA Finals, the Heat have won just three playoff games and only three players remain from that championship team.

“There’s no pressure on me. I’ve said where my heart is. You just have to see things being done and accomplished,” Wade said at a postgame news conference after the Heat lost Game 5 in Boston.

The pressure falls on Riley to restock the Heat with better players and convince Wade – the 2008-09 NBA scoring champion – that the Heat are committed to winning a title now instead of three, four or five years down the road. Miami has 10 potential free agents this summer and will have plenty of cap space to sign two maximum contracts.

Can you see LeBron and D-Wade in South Beach?

“It’s funny to hear scenarios, for people to tell you that you know and you thought about it,” Wade told AP. “In New York, they kind of made me say, tried to make me say that I have thought about it or I have talked to LeBron. It’s amazing to me that people are inside my head that way. I don’t know.”

Wade’s likely destinations are Miami, Chicago, New York or L.A. (Clippers, not Lakers). Wade is a Chicago native and he’ll have Derrick Rose as his sidekick, making the Bulls very appealing. New York and L.A. don’t have a championship-caliber roster, but playing for a big-market team can extend the D-Wade brand to a larger audience.

Ultimately, Wade will probably end up back in Miami because of the following reasons: 1) South Beach, 2) the Heat can offer Wade more money, 3) South Beach, 4) Riley will lure at least one superstar to play with him (see Chris Bosh or Amare Stoudemire), and 5) South Beach.

Riley is a big Bosh fan and actually had the 6-foot-11 forward rated higher than Wade in the 2003 draft. Bosh is not likely to re-sign with Toronto so he’ll be the most coveted free agent because his decision will affect Wade’s and James’ next move.

So, before Wade makes up his mind, he’ll sit back and take his time before he puts his signature on his next big contract.

“Wait and see. Wade and see, if you want to be cool with it,” he concluded.

Thirteen years later, the Heat will honor Hardaway for helping Riley “get the ball rolling” in Miami as his No. 10 jersey will be raised in a ceremony on Oct. 28 prior to the season-opener against the New York Knicks. It will be the second jersey retired in Heat history. Mourning’s No. 33 went to the rafters last season.

It is fitting that Hardaway will be honored on a night when the Heat will play the Knicks, their Eastern Conference nemesis during the late 1990s. The Heat-Knicks seven-game wars were instant classics, and Hardaway was right in the middle of the very physical battles.

Tim Hardaway enjoyed his best season with the Heat in 1996-97, helping the team win 61 games.

Riley told the Associated Press that Hardaway is part of the “taproot and foundation for what we hope to be a long tradition of success here in Miami.”

Hardaway played 13 NBA seasons, nearly six of those with the Heat. He was a five-time All-Star and also played for Golden State, Dallas, Denver and Indiana during a career where he averaged 17.7 points and 8.2 assists per game. He finished his career 15,373 points and 7,095 assists, which ranks him 13th all-time.

He was 29 years old when he got traded to Miami. His best season with the Heat occured in the 1996-97 season when he averaged 20.3 points, 8.6 assists and made a career-high 203 3-pointers in 81 games. That Heat squad won 61 games and reached the conference finals, but lost to eventual champion Chicago.

Injuries to both knees robbed Hardaway of his foot speed during the latter stages of his career. But when healthy, the man nicknamed “The Bug” was one of the best PGs in the NBA. His best years came with the Warriors. From 1990 to ’95, Hardaway averaged more than 20 points and close to 10 assists.

To borrow a line from his commercial, “Timmy’s got skillz!”

In his prime, Hardaway could get by any defender, using his “Killer Crossover” dribble to embarrass the opposition. At 6-0 and 175 pounds, he was quick and powerful. He ran Don Nelson’s high-powered offense in Golden State to near perfection, teaming up with Chris Mullin and Mitch Richmond to form “Run TMC.”

Beyond the stat sheet, Hardway was also tough-minded and wasn’t afraid to take the big shot, two qualities that endeared him to Riley.

He also wasn’t afraid to open his mouth. Hardaway didn’t exactly endear himself to the gay community when he uttered his famous “I hate gay people” comment when asked how he would react if he played with an openly gay teammate. Hardaway later apologized for his insensitive statement.

Pat Riley coached the Lakers and Heat to NBA titles and the Knicks to the NBA Finals.

The Armani suits. The slicked-back hair. The clenched fist.

Everything about the man exudes class and confidence. But Patrick James Riley is much more than just a confident, well-dressed basketball coach. He is the quintessential leader of men and master motivator. He is a champion. Six times to be exact. Once as a player with the Los Angeles Lakers in 1972 and five times as head coach. Only Phil Jackson and Red Auerbach has more.

As the ringleader of Showtime in the 1980s, he pointed the Lakers to NBA championships in 1982, 1985, 1987 and 1988. The Lakers were the team of the decade because Riley pushed them to succeed. He pushed Magic Johnson to be the best. He extended Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s career. He allowed James Worthy the freedom to run the break. He maintained excellence for nine seasons.

Most sports fans see Pat Riley as this celebrity coach who looks the part rather than plays the part.

That my be true but that is also what made him one of the most recognizable faces in sports and one of the richest. That look and whole aura was so unique and powerful that Michael Douglas channeled it to his role of Gordon Gekko in the movie “Wallstreet” where Douglas won an Oscar.

Greed is definitely good.

Riley’s resume is stout. He won 1,210 games which is third on the NBA’s all-time list behind Lenny Wilkens and Don Nelson. His 171 postseason victories rank second in league history, just seven behind Phil Jackson. Riley has averaged over 52 wins per season in his coaching career. In 1996-97 as the NBA celebrated its 50th anniversary, Riley was named one of the top 10 coaches of all time.

After Riley left the Lakers in 1990, he went to the New York Knicks and Gotham City was never the same. Madison Square Garden became Hollywood East. It didn’t take Riley long to establish the Knicks as an NBA elite. Patrick Ewing, the face of the franchise, bought into Riley’s system. In 1992, Riley’s band of bullies pushed Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls to a tough seven-game series in what became as the blueprint of the style of play for the 1990s.

In New York, Riley played to his team’s strengths. What the Knicks lacked in style they made up for it with substance. More grit than glamour. Once Riley made a believer of Knicks captain Patrick Ewing, the rest of the team fell in line. Riley preached accountability, discipline and effort especially on the defensive end. Very rarely did opposing teams outworked a Pat Riley-coached squad.

The Knicks finally broke through in 1994 and reached the NBA Finals. The Knicks lost to the Houston Rockets in seven games and Riley became divorced from the Knicks. The separation was ugly. The Knicks vowed to beat Riley any chance they get and Riley vowed to finish the job somewhere else, but he needed to start from ground zero.

In 1996, Pat Riley became the president and coach of the Miami Heat. A franchise that has barely made a dent in the league. It was to be Riley’s greatest challenge. He got Alonzo Mourning to come aboard and be his centerpiece. He brought in Tim Hardaway to be his point guard. He traded for Eddie Jones. He signed Brian Grant. He drafted Caron Butler. He picked up hardnosed guys like Bruce Bowen, Keith Askins, P.J. Brown, Ike Austin and Anthony Carter to be his role players.

Despite all the hard work and shrewed moves, the best the Heat could do was the Eastern Conference finals. The losses started to wear down Riley, especially the playoff defeats at the hands of the rival Knicks. Riley knew he needed to retool.

After a disappointing 2002 season, Riley and Heat found themselves in the 2003 NBA draft lottery. Riley wanted forward Chris Bosh but Toronto nabbed him with the fourth overall pick. He settled for a combo guard from Marquette with a weird first name. Once Riley saw the potential in Dwyane Wade, he took a chance and traded three players (Lamar Odom, Butler and Grant) to the Lakers for center Shaquille O’Neal prior to the start of the 2004 season.

With Wade and O’Neal, Riley got his Magic and Kareem. He got his Mr. Inside and Mr. Outside. Riley knew he had something special. He made sure Wade and O’Neal had the right pieces around them. It took him two years but Riley, the general manager, got it done…by any means necessary. Even if it meant shoving aside longtime friend Stan Van Gundy.

The Miami Heat started the 2006 playoffs with a classic Riley battle cry. Riley used a us-against-the-world mentally and hammered the point of being one unified strong team. Fifteen strong. The Heat carried this mantra all the way to the NBA Finals en route to winning the franchise’s first championship.

It was Wade’s first, Shaq’s fourth and Riley’s fifth.

When asked which title was the sweetest, Riley said the 2006 title. Heads turned. Then Riley explained it was the sweetest because it was the hardest.

He won with an unlikely cast of characters. It was a team somewhere in between his Lakers and Knicks. Just talented and gutty enough to push forward. Riley pushed point guard Jason Williams to tone his game down. He pushed Wade to be great. He convinced Mourning, Antoine Walker and Gary Payton to play secondary roles. And Riley masked Shaq’s deficiencies by limiting his minutes and allowed O’Neal to dominate in spurts, giving the opposition the illusion that The Diesel still had some left in the tank.

Comedian Chris Rock joked about who should be the leader of Black America.

“Coach Pat Riley!” Rock says. “He may not win it all but he’ll get you to the Promised Land!”

Chris Rock may have been delivered the line with tongue firmly planted on the cheek but it rings true about Pat Riley, the coach. He is a leader of men and his place in basketball history is now cemented after being inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Mass.