The 10 Greatest Heat players in history, ranked by Player Efficiency Rating (PER)

6. Alonzo Mourning - 21.7

Speaking of great defenders, Adebayo might be the most versatile in Heat history but he doesn’t have the hardware that Mourning earned as the back-to-back Defensive Player of the Year in 1999 and 2000.

Mourning was the subject of Riley’s first big trade, when he sent Glen Rice, two more players and a pick to Charlotte for Mourning in 1995. That deal kickstarted the greatest stretch in Heat history to that point. When Riley traded for Tim Hardaway the next year, the Heat qualified for six straight postseasons, making it as far as the conference finals in 1997.

But the end of Mourning’s career was defined by adversity. He was diagnosed with a kidney disease in 2000 and played only the final 13 games of the 2000-01 season. He played 75 games in 2001-02 but then missed the entire 2002-03 season as his condition worsened. The Heat won only 25 games that season, giving them the fifth pick in the 2003 draft.

Mourning signed with the New Jersey Nets in 2003 but played only 30 games for them. He was eventually traded to the Toronto Raptors who bought him out of his deal, then re-signed with the Heat in March 2005. He finally ended up getting his ring in 2006, when a young Dwyane Wade (selected with that fifth-overall pick in 2003) and Shaquille O’Neal led the Heat to the first championship in franchise history.