MIES (Switzerland) – The basketball family is in mourning following the death of Dikembe Mutombo.
The African legend, who had a long and all-star caliber career as a player, was known in equal measure for his dedication to helping others.
Just 58, Mutombo has passed away from brain cancer.
His son, Ryan Mutombo, a college basketball player at Georgia Tech in Atlanta, paid a stirring tribute to his father.
After starring at Georgetown under coach John Thompson, where he was Third Team All-American, the 2.18m center Dikembe Mutombo entered the NBA as the fourth overall pick in 1992 by Denver and went on to play 18 seasons.
Mutombo spent several years with the Nuggets, where his finger wag became one of the most recognizable gestures in sports.
His 3,289 blocks in the NBA are second only to another African, Hakeem Olajuwon, who had 3,830 swats.
Mutombo then moved to the Atlanta Hawks and had several seasons in Georgia. After a year each with Philadelphia and New Jersey, Mutombo signed for Houston and played the last years of his career with the Rockets.
Four times, Mutombo was the NBA’s Defensive Player of the Year. Eight times he was an NBA All-Star. He was inducted to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2015.
The Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame joins the world in mourning the passing of Dikembe Mutombo, a giant on the court whose stature was even larger off it. One of the NBA’s greatest defenders who led the league in blocked shots for five consecutive years, Mutombo’s tireless… pic.twitter.com/7WrLgGj4m3
— Basketball HOF (@Hoophall) September 30, 2024
While a player, he started his Dikembe Mutombo Foundation to improve living conditions in his native Democratic Republic of Congo in 1997. The foundation set out to build 300-bed hospital on the outskirts of Kinshasa and it was ultimately completed in 2007 with Mutombo having donated millions of dollars of his own money.
He was also involved several times in Basketball Without Borders Africa, the joint program run by FIBA and the NBA to develop youth basketball around the world.
Mutombo was the NBA’s first Global Ambassador.
NBA Global Ambassador and Naismith Basketball Hall of Famer Dikembe Mutombo passed away today at the age of 58 from brain cancer. He was surrounded by his family.
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver issued the following statement. pic.twitter.com/fkFPaiMVD3
— NBA Communications (@NBAPR) September 30, 2024
FIBA