Ira Winderman of the Sun-Sentinel reports that Miami?s Alonzo Mourning has not completely closed the door on returning to play this year. Heat coach Pat Riley is assuming the door is closed. Mourning is battling kidney disease.

"The day that Zo informed me that he wasn't going to play this year, that's the day that I took the approach that he wasn't going to play this year," Riley said. "And that's how I'm dealing with it. We have to move on, and we are. I just want him to get healthy. I hope he can achieve his dreams, but we have a job to do."

While optimistic, Mourning admits the chances of him returning to the court this season are very slim. "If my doctors told me that there wasn't any light at the end of the tunnel, then I would retire, plain and simple," he said. "I'm going to play this thing month by month. That's how I've been going, month by month, just hoping to continually see progress. Until I reach a comfortable level where I can even think about basketball, then it's not an issue at all."