MIAMI – If Dikembe Mutombo had his way, Alonzo Mourning would have announced his retirement long before Monday.

Mutombo, a former teammates of Mourning’s at Georgetown, said he and Patrick Ewing tried to keep Mourning from returning to basketball this season.

Mutombo said he began his plea late one night this summer when he heard Mourning was set to return.

“I didn’t care what time it was I called him up and I said, ‘What are you doing?'” Mutombo said. “I was upset. I love him. I worried about his health. I didn’t want him to do it. But he told me he had made up his mind. And that was it.

“What are you going to do, fly to Miami and say, ‘You’re not playing?’ “

Against his friends’ wishes, Mourning attempted a comeback with the Nets and retired after 12 games because of complications from his kidney disease.

Right about now the Nets might wish Mourning had listened to Mutombo. Having signed Mourning to a four-year, $22 million contract that could not be covered by insurance because of his pre-existing condition, Mourning counts against the Nets salary cap for $4.9 million next season and $5.4 the following year. (He should come off the books in July 2005 because he was forced to retire.) That total is doubled, though, because the Nets are a luxury tax team.

Combined with the more than $27 million the Nets paid to buy out a suddenly expendable Mutombo, the Nets will pay nearly $60 million for two centers who will not play for them.

Knicks cliques

Former New York Knick Latrell Sprewell struck a nerve with his former team when he claimed before the Knicks-Timberwolves game last week that the Knicks had “little cliques” that resulted in a lack of togetherness.

Sprewell specifically mentioned “Christian guys,” which would seems to refer to Charlie Ward and Allan Houston, both devout Christians.

“Cliques? That’s every team,” Ward said. “It’s just a matter of playing together on the court and not what you do in your spare time.”

Damaged goods?

Anthony Carter has landed on the San Antonio Spurs injured list for the second time this season with tendinitis in his left knee, and Spurs officials wonder if the former Heat guard was damaged upon arrival. Carter missed seven games last season with the Heat because of patella tendinitis, and he began to suffer from the same problem a couple weeks into training camp.

Shaq’s strain

Shaquille O’Neal has gotten away several times with sitting out a game or two because of a minor injury. But O’Neal who missed a couple games last week with a strained calf, might not get away with that too often this season.

Not with Karl Malone and Gary Payton, who combined have missed 17 games in their entire careers, on his team.

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(c) 2003, The Miami Herald.

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AP-NY-11-29-03 1629EST