Back In The Day NBA

Back In The Day, March 16, 1998: Grant Hill Posterizes Alonzo Mourning After Scuffle

Moments after Grant Hill and Alonzo Mourning got into a near skirmish, Hill unleashed a thunderous dunk over Mourning on next possession

Shandel Richardson

Back In The Day, March 16, 1998: Grant Hill Posterizes Alonzo Mourning After Scuffle
Back In The Day, March 16, 1998: Grant Hill Posterizes Alonzo Mourning After Scuffle /
In this story:

When Grant Hill was with the Detroit Pistons, he was known as one of the most ferocious dunkers in league history.

At an early age, Hill had already dunked on the likes Patrick Ewing and others. On March 16, 1998, he added Miami Heat center Alonzo Mourning. 

Mourning was one of the most intimidating defenders at the time. He was a two-time Defensive Player of the Year and led the league in blocks twice during his Hall of Fame career. 

But on this day 26 years ago Mourning lost. And it was bad. 

Here are the details: 

The Heat were playing the Pistons, who were led by Hill. At the time, Hill was considered among the players waiting to take over Michael Jordan's throne atop the NBA. Injuries prevented that from ever happening but Hill did get the best of Mourning before ankle problems slowed him in the early 2000s.

It all started when Mourning hit Hill with a hard screen while the Pistons were on defense. It led to Hill, who obviously didn't like it, wrestling Mourning to the ground.

Hill refused to let that be the end of it. On the next possession, Hill drove the lane and finished with a strong dunk in Mourning's face. It wasn't the first time Mourning was dunked on (See Bill Wennington). It wasn't the last time, either (See Vince Carter).

But the fact it came right after a scuffle made it much more intense.

Back In The Day NBA, May 3, 1998: Knicks Eliminate Heat One Game After Infamous Jeff Van Gundy, Alonzo Mourning Incident

Shandel Richardson is the publisher of Back In The Day NBA. He can be reached at shandelrich@gmail.com. 

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Shandel Richardson
SHANDEL RICHARDSON

Shandel has covered the NBA since 2010, with previous stops at The Athletic and South Florida Sun-Sentinel.  He has covered six NBA Finals, one Super Bowl, the NCAA basketball tournament. He has also been a beat writer for the Miami Hurricanes and contributed on every major beat in South Florida since 2003, including the Miami Dolphins and Miami Marlins. He can also be read in the Sportsbook Review for gambling coverage from around the NBA. A native of Bloomington, Illinois, Shandel attended Southern Illinois University in Carbondale. He's also worked for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and Kansas City Star.  TWITTER: @ShandelRich EMAIL: shandelrich@gmail.com

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