Congolese-American basketball player Dikembe Mutombo was legendary for his shot-blocking skills and his cheerful attitude. He was also a humanitarian who gave time and money to charities and was beloved by sports fans and recipients of his generosity.
Early Life
While he’s known by basketball fans as Mutombo, he was born Dikembe Mutombo Mpolondo Mukamba Jean-Jacques Wamutombo in Leopoldville in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. He was born on June 25, 1966, and had nine siblings. His father worked as a school principal.
Polyglot
Growing up, Mutombo learned to speak numerous languages. As part of his education, he learned English, Portuguese, French, Spanish, and several Central African languages like Tshiluba and Lingala. This set him up for success later in life, as both his athletic career and humanitarian outreach necessitated the knowledge of many languages.
Later Education
Mutombo went to Boboto College in Kinshasa in his teens to prepare for a career in medicine. The coursework there was much tougher than some surrounding schools, and he passed the time by learning martial arts and playing football. His brother and father began encouraging him to play basketball due to his unusual height.
Moving to America
In 1987, then 21-year-old Mutombo moved to the US to attend Georgetown University. He attended on a USAID scholarship and initially focused on his medical degree. However, he was recruited to play basketball by coach John Tompson, and discovered that he had an aptitude for blocking shots.
Shot-Blocking Prowess
As a college sophomore, Mutombo once blocked twelve shots during a single game. His teammate Alonzo Mourning was also well-known for his ability to block shots, so Georgetown’s fans began flying banners of outstretched hands and called themselves “Rejection Row.”
College Years
Mutombo also worked as an intern during the summer when he wasn’t attending classes. He interned for the US Congress and the World Bank. He graduated from Georgetown in 1991 with two bachelor’s degrees, one in diplomacy and the other in linguistics.
NBA Career
Mutombo was drafted fourth overall by the Denver Nuggets in the 1991 NBA Draft. He was a huge addition to their roster, figuratively and literally, because the Nuggets sorely needed a strong defensive player to help their defensive stats. During this time, he created his iconic move of blocking a shot and then pointing at the player who lobbed it before wagging his finger side to side.
The House of Mutombo
In 1992, Mutombo appeared in an Adidas ad with the catchphrase “Man does not fly… in the house of Mutombo.” This led to immediate fan reaction, with several variations of “not in my house!” becoming common shouts when blocking shots in various games. Mutombo was becoming a rising star in the NBA.
Defensive Dominance
With his towering 7’2” frame, Mutombo was a very difficult opponent to play against. He was selected for the All-Star team during his rookie year and averaged nearly three blocks per game in 1991. Denver started to become a much more formidable team in the league, with Mutombo as their defensive backbone.
1994 Playoffs
In the 1994 playoffs, the 42-40 Nuggets entered as the eighth seed. They had to play the number one seed SuperSonics, who quickly dropped them to an 0-2 record in the best-of-three series. In an stunning upset, Mutombo and the Nuggets battled back and won the series, becoming the first eighth seed to ever beat the first seed in NBA history.
Leaving the Nuggets
During his final season with the Nuggets (1995-96) Mutombo was averaging 11 points, nearly 12 rebounds, and four-and-a-half blocks per game. However, he was frustrated as he didn’t have a particularly strong team around him to help achieve the playoff success he wanted.
Atlanta Hawks
Mutombo got a $55 million, five-year contract with the Atlanta Hawks after the conclusion of his last season in Denver. He played alongside Steve Smith to push the Hawks to 50-plus win seasons in the 1996-97 and 1997-98 seasons, and, naturally, won Defensive Player of the Year in both campaigns. The Hawks even got the second round of the 1997 playoffs before falling to Chicago Bulls.
Banning the Finger Wag
In a bizarre twist in 1999, the NBA banned Mutombo’s iconic finger wag move. The league was worried that the move was too close to taunting the other players and could be perceived as unsporting. Mutombo protested the decision but eventually complied with the updated regulation.
Joining the 76ers
In 2001, the Hawks traded Mutombo to the Philadelphia 76ers in a complex multi-player trade. The 76ers needed a “big man” to fill the role left by Theo Ratliffe, who was out with injury. Mutombo instantly made waves in Philadelphia.
2002 Playoffs
During the playoffs of the 2001-02 season, Mutombo played incredibly well as Philadelphia blew past the Indiana Pacers, the Toronto Raptors, and the Milwaukee Bucks. In the seventh game of the series with the Bucks, Mutombo scored 23 points, earned 19 rebounds, and blocked an astonishing 7 shots.
The Finals
However, after a big win in Game 1 of the Finals against the Lakers, the 76ers lost the next four games in a row to lose the championship. Still, the 76ers loved Mutombo’s ability to excel on defense, so they signed him to a $68 million, four-year contract with Philadelphia.
The Nets
Or, maybe they didn’t love him that much. The 76ers promptly traded Mutombo to the New Jersey Nets in 2002 for Todd MacCulloch and Keith Van Horn. He didn’t play for them much, though, as a persistent wrist injury kept him to just 24 games in the 2002-03 season. The Nets bought out the rest of his contract, and Mutombo headed for New York.
The Knicks
Mutombo signed a contract with the Knicks in late 2003, adding further fuel to the longstanding Knicks-Nets rivalry. Knicks players started imitating Mutombo’s finger wag gesture when he would block shots, and the league stopped penalizing Mutombo for the gesture as long as he didn’t direct it at a specific player.
More Trades
In August 2004, Mutombo was traded to the Chicago Bulls. He wasn’t there for very long, though, as he was traded to the Houston Rockets before the 2004-05 season even began. Alongside fellow big man Yao Ming, Mutombo became a huge force for Houston and made another run at the playoffs, this time losing in round one to the Mavericks.
Setting Career Records
In January of 2007, Mutombo bested Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s career blocked shots record, becoming the second-best overall blocker behind only Hakeem Olajuwon. In March of that year, he became the oldest player in NBA history to ever get more than 20 rebounds in a single game.
Final Season
Mutombo signed with the Rockets again for the 2008-09 season and became the oldest player in the NBA in 2009. He called 2009 his “farewell tour,” and helped the team make the playoffs again. They faced off against Portland in the first round, but during Game Two of the series Mutombo landed badly after a jump and needed to be escorted from the court.
Career-Ending Surgery
Mutombo was already planning to retire, but his injury in the 2009 playoffs solidified it. He had ruptured the quadriceps tendon in his left knee, requiring surgery and ending his career. He announced his retirement on April 23, 2009, having played an astonishing 18 seasons in the league.
Career Retrospective
After his retirement, many fans were disappointed that Mutombo never got to wear an NBA Finals ring. He’s renowned as one of the best defensive players in the history of the league, in no small part because of his extreme power and fast hands. Fans dubbed him “Mount Mutombo” and he earned four Defensive Player of the Year awards during his career.
Injury-Dealer
Mutombo also had something of a reputation for injuring players due to his powerful, flailing style of blocking. During his career, he injured notable players like Dennis Rodman, LeBron James, Patrick Ewing, and even Michael Jordan. Yao Ming even once joked about having Mutombo kept from practice so he wouldn’t injure other Houston Rockets.
Hall of Fame and Other Accolades
In 2015, Mutombo was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame. The Hawks and Nuggets have both retired his number 55 jersey in honor of his accomplishments in the sport. He was also given the Sager Strong Award in 2018, recognizing his achievements both on and off the court.
Charitable Endeavors
Mutombo was known for as much for his humanitarian work as his basketball skills. He founded the Dikembe Mutombo Foundation to help extend aid to people in the Democratic Republic of Congo and earned the J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award in 2001 and 2009 for his efforts.
Touring Africa
In 2004, Mutombo joined Basketball Without Borders to tour Africa and act as ambassadors to areas that needed better infrastructure. They also spread interest in basketball, helping pay for uniforms and covering the costs of equipment for teams looking to break into the sport.
Special Olympics
Mutombo was renowned for his support of the Special Olympics, too. He was a Global Ambassador for the program during his lifetime and championed causes including equality, competition, and fairness. He served on the Special Olympics’ International Board of Directors.
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Citizenship
Mutombo officially became a naturalized US citizen in 2006. During George W. Bush’s State of the Union Address in 2007, the president honored Mutombo for his humanitarian work. Mutombo was taken aback at the president’s praise, with Bush saying, “We are proud to call this son of the Congo a citizen of the United States of America”
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Death
Mutombo passed away on September 30, 2024, likely from complications relating to cancer. He had previously announced in late 2022 that he was receiving treatment for a brain tumor. News outlets reported that he was surrounded by family members at the time of his passing.
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