NBA Hall of Famer center Dikembe Mutombo, known for his signature finger wag after blocking an opponent’s shot, died Monday at the age of 58.
Mutombo’s family announced two years ago that the Hall of Famer was struggling with brain cancer. The NBA said he died with his family and loved ones by his side.
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver released a statement regarding Mutombo’s death, saying that he was “simply larger than life” and there was “nobody more qualified than Dikembe to serve as the NBA’s first Global Ambassador.”
“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,” Silver said.
“He was a humanitarian at his core. He loved what the game of basketball could do to make a positive impact on communities, especially in his native Democratic Republic of the Congo and across the continent of Africa. I had the privilege of traveling the world with Dikembe and seeing first-hand how his generosity and compassion uplifted people. He was always accessible at NBA events over the years — with his infectious smile, deep booming voice and signature finger wag that endeared him to basketball fans of every generation.”
Mutombo first came to the United States from the Democratic Republic of Congo in 1987 after receiving an academic scholarship to Washington’s Georgetown University, where he initially enrolled in pre-med courses with plans to become a doctor, according to The New York Times.
The 7-foot-2-inch center spent the first year of his collegiate career playing intramural basketball, where he gained fluency in English. He then dropped his pre-med courses to join the basketball team, where he quickly began making a name for himself on the court.
Mutombo became one of the most well-known players in the country by his senior season after spending the summers training with NBA All-Star Patrick Ewing and teammate Alonzo Mourning, another future NBA All-Star.
During his final season at Georgetown, Mutombo averaged 15.2 points per game, 12.2 rebounds, and 4.7 blocked shots.
The Denver Nuggets selected Mutombo with the fourth overall pick in the 1991 Draft. In his rookie season, he averaged 3.0 blocks and a career-high of 16.6 points per game and was selected as an NBA All-Star.
Mutombo was already one of the best defenders in the NBA in his rookie season and did nothing but improve, averaging an astounding 4.5 blocks per game by his fifth season with the Nuggets.
Shortly after entering the league, Mutombo introduced his signature “finger wag” after a player attempted to dunk on him near the basket, explaining during a 2009 interview that “Man cannot fly in the house of Mutombo.”
“I felt I was a chief, I was the boss, and nobody could come into the paint unless they knocked on the door and asked permission to come in. I felt that way for so long, and it was not so many people who dunked on Dikembe Mutombo,” he explained to GQ.
Mutombo’s excellence on the defensive side of the game helped earn him the NBA’s Defensive Player of the Year award in 1995, 1997, 1998, and 2001. He is now one of only three players to have ever won the award at least four times, per NBA.com.
After retiring from the NBA following the 2008-2009 season, Mutombo was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame and spent his retirement working with charitable organizations.
Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid, born in Cameroon, said Mutombo inspired him and that it is “a sad day, especially for us Africans, and really the whole world.”
“Other than what he’s accomplished on the basketball court, I think he was even better off the court. He’s one of the guys that I look up to, as far as having an impact, not just on the court, but off the court. He’s done a lot of great things. He did a lot of great things for a lot of people. He was a role model of mine. It is a sad day,” he added, per NBA.com.
76ers president Daryl Morey spent multiple seasons with Mutombo, and emotionally described the Hall of Fame center as a “great human being” and said there “aren’t many guys like him.”
“When I was a rookie GM in this league, my first chance in Houston, he was someone I went to all the time. … His accomplishments on the court, we don’t need to talk about too much. Just an amazing human being, what he did off the court for Africa. Rest in peace, Dikembe.”
