Ranking the best Miami Heat players from 2000-2009
By Cory Sanning
6. Anthony Mason
Stats (2001): 16.1 points, 9.6 rebounds, 3.1 assists, 48 percent from the field
Mason arrived in Miami during the summer of 2000, brought in by Pat Riley himself.
Originally intended to be a role player on a potential championship contender, Mason was thrust into a starting role once Alonzo Mourning went down for the season with a kidney ailment.
He would respond with perhaps the best year of his career, finishing second on the team in scoring and first in rebounding.
With Mourning and former Duke star Grant Hill unable to participate in the 2001 NBA All Star game, Mason was chosen to represent the Heat in what would turn out to be his lone All Star appearance.
Despite an injury-ravaged season, the Heat would go on to win 50 games and make the 2001 NBA Playoffs, where they would face off against the sixth-seeded Charlotte Hornets in the first round.
Mason infamously struggled during the series, averaging just 5.3 points and 3.0 rebounds per game as the Heat were swept in three games. For the series, he attempted just 13 shots and made five of them.
Following a bitter first round exit, Mason was released by Miami later in the offseason.
He would go on to sign with the Milwaukee Bucks for the 2001-2002 season and spent two seasons as a backup.
His career would find itself at a crossroads following the 2003 NBA Playoffs, and Mason was waived by the Bucks following more diminished production.
On Feb. 28, 2015, Mason would succumb to a complications from congestive heart failure, and passed away in Manhattan at the age of 48.
He would have been 50 this year, and although he’s no longer with us, Mason’s contributions to a Heat team that had no business claiming a top three seed will forever be remembered.