Dikembe Mutombo

Dikembe Mutombo (born June 25, 1966, Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo—died September 30, 2024, Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. ) was a Congolese-American basketball player who was one of the best defenders in National Basketball Association (NBA) history and was also noted for his philanthropic efforts.

The son of a father who worked as a school principal and then in Congo’s department of education, Mutombo grew up dreaming of becoming a doctor and eventually mastered nine languages (French, English, Spanish, Portuguese, and five Central African dialects). At the encouragement of his father and brother, the rapidly growing Mutombo took up basketball at age 16. His past participation in football (soccer) and martial arts eased his transition into the new sport, but he was still relatively raw when he moved to Washington, D.C., in 1987 to attend Georgetown University on an academic scholarship.

Mutombo had little interest in pursuing basketball when he arrived on campus, but he caught the attention of legendary Georgetown coach John Thompson, who recruited the 7-foot 2-inch (2.18-meter) prospective medical-school student to join the basketball team. After spending a year dominating Georgetown’s intramural basketball league while straightening out his eligibility, Mutombo joined the Hoyas during his sophomore year but played sparingly during his first season on the team. He began to break out during his junior year, as Thompson began playing Mutombo alongside star forward-center (and fellow future Hall of Famer) Alonzo Mourning in an intimidating “twin tower” lineup. Mutombo established himself as an NBA prospect during his senior season, averaging 15.2 points, 12.2 rebounds, and a stellar 4.7 blocks per game. He was then selected by the Denver Nuggets with the fourth overall pick of the 1991 NBA draft.

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Mutombo made an immediate impact on the NBA, piling up 16.6 points, 12.3 rebounds, and 3.0 blocks per game during his rookie season and earning a spot on the Western Conference All-Star team. During the first round of the 1993–94 postseason, he helped the Nuggets defeat the top-seeded Seattle SuperSonics, the first time an eighth seed had ever won an NBA playoff series. A television shot of a jubilant and crying Mutombo lying on the court and holding a basketball over his head after the series-clinching victory became one of the iconic images in league history. The following season, the second of three straight during which he led the NBA in blocks per game, saw Mutombo win his first NBA defensive player of the year (DPOY) award. The good-natured Mutombo became a fan favorite for his signature gesture of wagging a finger and saying “No, no, no” after blocking a shot.

In 1996 he signed with the Atlanta Hawks, with whom he continued his defensive dominance, winning two more DPOYs (1996–97, 1997–98). He was traded to the Philadelphia 76ers during the 2000–01 season, after which he earned a fourth DPOY award and aided the 76ers in reaching the NBA finals (a loss to the Los Angeles Lakers). Mutombo finished his NBA career playing for the New Jersey Nets, New York Knicks, and Houston Rockets. He retired after the 2008–09 season with 3,289 career blocks (second most in NBA history) and eight total All-Star honors. Mutombo was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2015.

Off the court, Mutombo was noted as one of the most-charitable players to have ever played the game. He established the Dikembe Mutombo Foundation in 1997, which focused on building hospitals and providing health care in central Africa. In 2007 the foundation opened the Biamba Marie Mutombo Hospital (named for his mother), which was the first new hospital established in Kinshasa in 40 years. In 2009 Mutombo was named the NBA’s Global Ambassador, a role that saw him travel the world to celebrate the sport and take part in charitable events. He won the NBA’s J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award in 2001 and 2009, becoming the first two-time winner of the award with the latter honor. Mutombo announced in 2022 that he had been diagnosed with brain cancer. He died of the disease in 2024.