The NBA lost a giant in Dikembe Mutombo, on and off the court

There has never been and never will be a player like Dikembe Mutombo Mpolondo Mukamba Jean-Jacques Wamutombo, a brilliant linguist and generous humanitarian who became an NBA Hall of Famer almost by accident. 

Born in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Mutombo originally enrolled at Georgetown University on an academic scholarship, with plans to become a doctor. Legendary head coach John Thompson convinced Mutombo to play basketball, and the rest was history — though Mutombo still graduated with degrees in linguistics and diplomacy. By the end of college, Mutombo spoke nine languages, and was learning Chinese and Japanese into his fifties.

Mutombo was a sensation right away for the Hoyas, recording 12 blocks in a single game during his first season, as a sophomore, backing up fellow Hall of Famer Alonzo Mourning. But by his senior year, Mutombo was a two-time Big East Defensive Player of the Year, while also working as an intern for the World Bank and the United States Congress.

He went No. 4 in the 1991 NBA draft to the Denver Nuggets and immediately turned the team’s woeful defense around. The Nuggets went from the NBA’s worst defense before Mutombo arrived to the league’s No. 5 defense by his third season, when the eight-seed Nuggets upset the top-ranked Seattle Supersonics in a first-round series. Mutombo averaged 12.2 rebounds and blocked a record 31 shots in the series, which ended with a joyful Mutombo on his back, clutching the game ball.

He won his first DPOY award the next season, while leading the league in blocks for the second of three consecutive seasons. Those blocks were accompanied by Mutombo’s signature celebration, where he’d point and wag his right index finger at the player he blocked, as if chastising them for even trying to score on him. The NBA eventually banned the move, which the calculating Mutombo had designed as a way to make himself more marketable.

It worked. Despite being one of the league’s only African players on an obscure NBA team, Mutombo became a commercial icon. A Geico ad featuring his signature finger wag aired after his retirement, proof his fame transcended basketball.

Mutombo left for the Atlanta Hawks in 1996 when the Nuggets decided he was too expensive, then proceeded to win the next two DPOY trophies while the Hawks enjoyed 50+-win seasons. He won a fourth DPOY in 2001, when a midseason traded brought him to the Philadelphia 76ers, who went on to the NBA Finals.

Off the court, Mutombo was devoted to charitable efforts, particularly in the DRC. In 2007, his foundation built a $29 million hospital in Kinasha. Named after Mutombo’s mother, the Biamba Marie Mutombo Hospital was the first medical facility in the DRC to provide knee replacements, cervical cancer screening and other medical innovations. By 2022, the facility had treated over a million patients.

Two years ago, Mutombo founded a school named for his educator father. The Samuel Mutombo Institute of Science & Entrepreneurship provides education for 400 students, all on full scholarships, including meals and transportation to school. 

In addition, Mutombo served on the board for the Center for Disease Control Foundation, UNICEF and the Special Olympics, as well as running the Dikembe Mutombo Foundation.

But for a man with such serious efforts off the court and such intimidating rim protection, Mutombo also remained light-hearted. He always insisted Michael Jordan had never dunked on him, which was true until 1997, when MJ got him and delivered his own finger wag.

Jordan once sank a free throw with his eyes closed after declaring, “Mutombo, this one’s for you, baby.”

While he finished his career with the second-most blocks in NBA history, trailing only Hakeem Olajuwon, Mutombo once got an unprecedented four blocked shots on a single possession. Poor Clarence Weatherspoon got blocked on three straight attempts. Even as Mutombo readjusted, he made sure to wag his finger at Weatherspoon every single time.

Mutombo passed away surrounded by his family, after a battle with brain cancer, the only opponent Mount Mutombo couldn’t send away with a finger wag. On and off the court, he will be missed.