Because he's playing with a kidney disease, Alonzo Mourning often is asked whether he has anything left to prove in basketball. To which he has a quick response.

"Hell yeah, I have a lot to prove," Mourning said. "I have a lot to prove from a standpoint that I'm still capable of playing this game at a high level."

That will become increasingly difficult to do if his immune system continues to allow viruses to affect his body like the one that kept him out for two games with symptoms similar to food poisoning.

"That kind of set me back a lot," Mourning said.

The Heat center lost weight because of the virus, and sitting out three days affected his strength and stamina. And while he is "eating like crazy" to regain the weight, his psyche also is in the recovery phase.

"From a mental standpoint, the only thing it affects is you get a little discouraged because you know you went though a whole training camp and it was positive production throughout," Mourning said. "Then as you reach a point where you know you're making strides, boom, you hit this wall, and you take about five steps back. You have to collect yourself."