There’s bigger than life, after which there’s Dikembe Mutombo.
Thought of among the best defensive gamers in historical past, the blocking knowledgeable was recognized for his finger-wagging dismissal of would-be shooters.
The 7-foot-2-inch, 260-pound middle moved to the US from the Democratic Republic of the Congo at age 21 to play faculty basketball for the Georgetown Hoyas.
Mutombo was chosen fourth within the 1991 NBA Draft, going to the Denver Nuggets. Dikembe performed twice within the NBA Finals. First, with the Philadelphia 76ers in 2001 and once more alongside the New Jersey Nets in 2003 in opposition to the San Antonio Spurs.
He acquired the NBA Defensive Participant of the 12 months Award 4 instances, led the NBA in blocked photographs thrice, led the league in rebounds twice, and was named to eight All-Star groups.
Not only a basketball icon, Mutombo was a humanitarian of the very best caliber. He began the Dikembe Mutombo Basis to enhance dwelling situations within the Democratic Republic of Congo. He was awarded the NBA’s J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award, named Sporting Information “Good Guys in Sports activities,” and elected as one in every of 20 winners of the President’s Service Awards, the nation’s highest honor for volunteer service.
Motumbo participated within the Basketball With out Borders NBA program, paid for uniforms and bills for the Zaire girls’s basketball crew in the course of the 1996 Centennial Olympic Video games, and served as a spokesman for the worldwide reduction company, CARE.
In 2022, Mutombo underwent therapy for a mind tumor.
The outpouring of affection from the general public was swift.
You paved the best way for me and for a lot of Congolese and African youth together with your legendary basketball profession and charitable actions. You might be an @NBA legend and an African icon and that may encourage the various coming generations. Relaxation In Peace Dikembe Mutombo. @NBA_Africa pic.twitter.com/gMpWlonmis
— Serge Ibaka (@sergeibaka) September 30, 2024
I used to be very unhappy to listen to about Dikembe Mutombo’s passing. Dikembe was not solely nice on the court docket, however a pressure for good off it, admired and liked by those that obtained to know him. His smile, his values and his dedication to basketball, in addition to to serving to others, won’t ever be… pic.twitter.com/KZaOSAXVGE
— Pau Gasol (@paugasol) September 30, 2024
Relaxation in peace, Large Man.
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