Jermaine O'Neal feels healthy again, and that is good news for Heat fans. (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

Jermaine O’Neal saw firsthand what super trainer Tim Grover did for Dwyane Wade last season, and he couldn’t think of a better guy to rebuild his body as well as his career.

This past offseason, Grover put O’Neal through a rigorous training regimen that included a new diet and more rehabbing than resting. After two steller outings in two Heat victories, O’Neal seems to have regained his footing as one of the NBA’s best big men.

Thanks to Grover, O’Neal says he feels strong and healthy for the first time in almost three years. The 14-year veteran has publicly stated that he wants to regain the form that made him a six-time All-Star selection.

O’Neal scored 22 points and grabbed 12 rebounds in each of Miami’s first two games, the first time he’s posted 22-and-12 in two years.

“I expect to do it every night,” O’Neal told the Associated Press. “When you go through some of the issues that I went through with my knee over the 2 1/2 years, you look forward to these nights. This is the first time in 2 1/2, three years where I feel real good, the body is responding great, my movements are great, no knee braces. I’ve really looked forward to this.”

So have the Heat, which goes without saying.

They traded for O’Neal last February, desperate for another low-post presence to help All-Star Dwyane Wade. What they got, though, was a player whose knees ached more than he ever acknowledged publicly, who could barely jump or run, impaired so badly that he failed to get more than five rebounds in 14 of the 27 regular-season games he logged with Miami last season.

For a 6-foot-11 player making more than $20 million a year, that simply wasn’t going to cut it.

“A lot of work in the summertime, a lot of work in camp,” O’Neal said of his workouts with Grover.

Clearly, all the hard work that O’Neal put in has paid off and if he can stay painfree for the rest of the season, the Heat should remain one of the top five teams in the Eastern Conference.

Popularity: 1% [?]

When Pat Riley took over the reigns of the Miami Heat franchise in 1996, he got the ball rolling with two important building blocks: center Alonzo Mourning and point guard Tim Hardaway.

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.

Popularity: 1% [?]

Center Alonzo Mourning finished his career as the 10th-best shot blocker in NBA history. (GETTY IMAGES)

When you look up the word “warrior” in the online dictionary, it reads: one who is engaged aggressively or energetically in an activity, cause, or conflict.

When you look up the picture of a warrior, you see Alonzo Mourning.

Mourning, 38, announced his retirement from the NBA after 15 years of engaging in aggressive and energetic activity on the basketball court. The knee injury he suffered back in December of 2007 was just too much to overcome for a man who has overcome so much during his career. He left the court as the all-time leader in points and rebounds for the Miami Heat and his 2,356 blocked shots ranks him 10th in league history. He was twice named defensive player of the year and was named to the All-Star team seven times.

But Mourning’s contribution to the game goes beyond hardware and statistics. He was, and always will be, the heart and soul of the Miami Heat. He anchored Pat Riley’s defense that was built around intimidation. He was the inspirational leader of the Heat teams of the late 1990s that included Tim Hardaway, Dan Majerle, Jamal Mashburn, P.J. Brown and Voshon Lenard.

Mourning is remembered more for being a hated brute than a beloved superstar. He wore his Georgetown scowl as soon as he stepped off the bus. Because he was a bit undersized as a center (listed at a generous 6-foot-10), Zo had to make up for his lack of length with grit, determination and intimidation. He played every minute or every game as if it was his last. He often willed his teams to victories. He often did not back down from a physical challenge. And when he got knocked down, he often got right back up.

He got right back up after being forced to retire in 2002 because of a bad kidney. During an emotional retirement press conference, Riley could not hold back the tears when he told reporters that Mourning, a pillar of strength and health since becoming the face of the Heat franchise in 1996, was retiring. After taking a year off, Zo returned to the NBA in 2003 and joined the New Jersey Nets. Riley got teary-eyed again in 2005 when Mourning returned to the Heat.

Because he wore his aggression and his passion on his biceps, Mourning was a magnet for confrontations. His battles with fellow Hoya, Patrick Ewing, during the 1990s were legendary. Larry Johnson could not stand him when they were teammates in Charlotte and the two got into a serious throw-down at Madison Square Garden with Jeff Van Gundy playing referee and holding on for dear life. Shaquille O’Neal relished his matchups with Zo so that he can dunk on him. O’Neal and Mourning would eventually make peace and lead the Heat to a championship in 2006.

O’Neal paid Mourning a high compliment when he chose not to wear No. 33 when he first arrived in Miami. Shaq believed that “33″ should be reserved for the man who shouldered the Miami Heat franchise through bad times and good times for 11 seasons.

It will be greatly debated whether Mouring deserves to be in the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame. If the criteria is solely based on numbers, Zo is a longshot. But if more weight was placed on having a warrior’s mentality on the court and performing community service off it (he is heavily involved in the McDonald’s All-American Game and Zo’s Summer Goove is one of the more popular exhibition games during the offseason), Alonzo Mourning’s name belongs in the hallways of Springfield.

OneManFastbreak.net rates Alonzo Mourning’s top five moments:

5) Zo’s Summer Groove – Now in it’s 12th year, this annual charity event raises funds for the Alonzo Mourning Charities, which has raised more than $6.5 million for various programs that aid in the development of children and their families in struggling communities.

4) Winning gold in 2000 Olympics – As the only true center on the roster, Mourning more than held his own against the rest of the world and was the defensive foundation of the U.S. team that took home the gold medal at the Sydney Games.

3) Shooting down the Celtics in the playoffs – During his rookie season with the Charlotte Hornets, he made a game-winning jumper with no time left on the clock that eliminated the Boston Celtics from the 1993 Eastern Conference playoffs.

2) Coming back from retirement and overcoming the odds – After being forced to retire in 2002 because of a failing kidney, Mourning got himself back in shape and returned to the NBA with the New Jersey Nets in 2003. After two uneventful seasons in New Jersey, he was reunited with Riley and Miami in 2005.

1) Winning an NBA championship with the Heat in 2006 – After 13 years of coming up short, Mourning finally became a champion. One of the highlights of the 2006 NBA Finals was when a 36-year-old Mourning pulled back time and gave a performance for the ages, blocking five shots and throwing down one vicious dunk to spark the Heat to its first NBA title.

Popularity: 7% [?]