JamesG
10-01-2024, 02:10 AM
Dikembe Mutombo Dies: Basketball Hall of Famer Who Served as an Ambassador for the Sport was 58
by Erik Pedersen
September 30, 2024
ubaW874u_FY
Dikembe Mutombo, the shot-blocking specialist whose Hall of Fame career included being named NBA Defensive Player of the Year four times over 18 seasons and who was an ambassador for the sport after his retirement, has died. He was 58.
The NBA said today that he died of brain cancer in Atlanta but did not give any other details. He had been diagnosed in 2022.
“Dikembe Mutombo was simply larger than life,” NBA commissioner Adam Silver said in a statement.
“On the court, he was one of the greatest shot blockers and defensive players in the history of the NBA. Off the floor, he poured his heart and soul into helping others. … “There was nobody more qualified than Dikembe to serve as the NBA’s first Global Ambassador.”
Born on June 25, 1966, in Kinsasha, Congo, the 7-foot-2 “Mount Mutombo” played 18 seasons starting with the Denver Nuggets, who picked him fourth overall in the 1991 NBA Draft out of Georgetown University, where he was the two-time Big East Defensive Player of the Year.
He played five seasons with the team before moving on to the Atlanta Hawks, Philadelphia 76s, New Jersey Nets, New York Knicks and finishing with the Houston Rockets, retiring at 42 after the 2008-09 campaign.
He was best known for snuffing out opponents’ shots and following with a finger-wag gesture and the words “No, no, no.”
He famously teased Michael Jordan through their years playing against each other, saying that the GOAT had never dunked on him. When Jordan finally got one past Mutombo, the shot blocker responded with some context: “It took Michael seven years to get one dunk.”
After retiring, Mutombo became a true ambassador of the game, working on humanitarian and charitable causes, often in his native Africa.
Through his foundation, Mutombo helped build a remarkable $29 million hospital in his home country of Congo, contributing $15 million of his own money to the project. Fluent in nine languages, he worked with such groups as UNICEF and the Special Olympics and helped develop the Basketball Africa League.
https://deadline.com/2024/09/dikembe-mutombo-dead-nba-1236103465/
by Erik Pedersen
September 30, 2024
ubaW874u_FY
Dikembe Mutombo, the shot-blocking specialist whose Hall of Fame career included being named NBA Defensive Player of the Year four times over 18 seasons and who was an ambassador for the sport after his retirement, has died. He was 58.
The NBA said today that he died of brain cancer in Atlanta but did not give any other details. He had been diagnosed in 2022.
“Dikembe Mutombo was simply larger than life,” NBA commissioner Adam Silver said in a statement.
“On the court, he was one of the greatest shot blockers and defensive players in the history of the NBA. Off the floor, he poured his heart and soul into helping others. … “There was nobody more qualified than Dikembe to serve as the NBA’s first Global Ambassador.”
Born on June 25, 1966, in Kinsasha, Congo, the 7-foot-2 “Mount Mutombo” played 18 seasons starting with the Denver Nuggets, who picked him fourth overall in the 1991 NBA Draft out of Georgetown University, where he was the two-time Big East Defensive Player of the Year.
He played five seasons with the team before moving on to the Atlanta Hawks, Philadelphia 76s, New Jersey Nets, New York Knicks and finishing with the Houston Rockets, retiring at 42 after the 2008-09 campaign.
He was best known for snuffing out opponents’ shots and following with a finger-wag gesture and the words “No, no, no.”
He famously teased Michael Jordan through their years playing against each other, saying that the GOAT had never dunked on him. When Jordan finally got one past Mutombo, the shot blocker responded with some context: “It took Michael seven years to get one dunk.”
After retiring, Mutombo became a true ambassador of the game, working on humanitarian and charitable causes, often in his native Africa.
Through his foundation, Mutombo helped build a remarkable $29 million hospital in his home country of Congo, contributing $15 million of his own money to the project. Fluent in nine languages, he worked with such groups as UNICEF and the Special Olympics and helped develop the Basketball Africa League.
https://deadline.com/2024/09/dikembe-mutombo-dead-nba-1236103465/