Dikembe Mutombo
Dikembe Mutombo Mpolondo Mukamba Jean-Jacques Wamutombo was a Congolese-American professional basketball player who played center in the National Basketball Association for 18 seasons. Nicknamed "Mount Mutombo" for his defensive prowess, he is commonly regarded as one of the best shot-blockers and defensive players of all time. Outside of basketball, he was known for his humanitarian work.
A center, Mutombo moved to the United States from the Democratic Republic of the Congo at age 21 to attend Georgetown University with the hope of eventually earning a medical degree and returning to the DRC to practice medicine. Those plans changed when John Thompson, coach of the Georgetown Hoyas, recruited him to play college basketball. Mutombo played three seasons for Georgetown, establishing a reputation as a tenacious defender.
In 1991 the Denver Nuggets chose him with the fourth overall pick of the NBA draft. During his NBA career, he played for six teams, in the NBA Finals for the Philadelphia 76ers in 2001 and for the New Jersey Nets in 2003. He received the NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award four times, tied with Ben Wallace and Rudy Gobert for the most awards. He led the NBA in blocked shots three times, led the league in rebounds twice, and was named to eight All-Star teams. Mutombo, with 3,289 career blocks, ranks second among NBA career leaders in blocked shots.
At the conclusion of the 2009 NBA playoffs, Mutombo retired and his number 55 jersey was retired by the Nuggets and Atlanta Hawks. He was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2015.
Early life
Dikembe Mutombo Mpolondo Mukamba Jean-Jacques Wamutombo was born on June 25, 1966, in Léopoldville, Democratic Republic of the Congo to Samuel and Biamba Marie Mutombo. Dikembe had 9 siblings. His father worked as a school principal and then in Congo's department of education. Dikembe spoke French, Spanish, Portuguese and five Central African languages including Lingala and Tshiluba. He was a member of the Luba ethnic group.For high school, Dikembe Mutombo went to Boboto College in Kinshasa to lay the groundwork for his medical career as the classes were more challenging there. He played football and participated in martial arts. At about 16, Mutombo decided to concentrate on his basketball career at the encouragement of his father and brother due to his height. He moved to the United States in 1987 at the age of 21 to enroll in college.
College career
Mutombo attended Georgetown University on a USAID scholarship. He originally intended to become a doctor, but the Georgetown Hoyas basketball coach John Thompson recruited him to play basketball. He spoke almost no English when he arrived at Georgetown and studied in the ESL program.During his first year of college basketball as a sophomore, Mutombo once blocked 12 shots in a game. Building on the shot-blocking power of Mutombo and teammate Alonzo Mourning, Georgetown fans created a "Rejection Row" section under the basket, adding a big silhouette of an outstretched hand to a banner for each shot blocked during the game. Mutombo was named the Big East Defensive Player of the Year twice, in 1990 and in 1991.
At Georgetown, Mutombo's international background and interests stood out. Like many other Washington-area college students, he served as a summer intern, once for Robert Matsui, a member of the Congress of the United States from California, and once at the World Bank. In 1991, he graduated with bachelor's degrees in linguistics and diplomacy.
Professional career
Denver Nuggets (1991–1996)
In the 1991 NBA draft, the Denver Nuggets selected Mutombo with the fourth overall pick. The Nuggets ranked last in the NBA in opponent points-per-game and Defensive Rating, and Mutombo's shot-blocking ability made an immediate impression across the league. He developed his signature move, in which he would celebrate every blocked shot by pointing his right index finger at the opposing player and moving it side to side, in 1992 as a way to become more marketable and gain product-endorsement contracts. That year, Mutombo starred in an Adidas advertisement that used the catchphrase "Man does not fly ... in the house of Mutombo", a reference to his prolific shot-blocking.As a rookie, Mutombo was selected for the All-Star team and averaged 16.6 points, 12.3 rebounds and nearly three blocks per game. Mutombo quickly began to establish himself as one of the league's best defensive players, regularly putting up big rebound and block numbers.
The 1993–94 season saw Denver continue to improve with Mutombo as the franchise cornerstone. During that season, Mutombo averaged 12.0 points per game, 11.8 rebounds per game and 4.1 blocks per game. With that, he helped the Nuggets finish with a 42–40 record and qualify as the eighth seed in the playoffs. They were matched up with the top-seeded 63–19 Seattle SuperSonics in the first round.
After falling to an 0–2 deficit in the five-game series, Denver won three straight games to pull off a major playoff upset, becoming the first eighth seed to defeat a number one seed in an NBA playoff series. At the end of Game 5, Mutombo memorably grabbed the game-winning rebound and fell to the ground, holding the ball over his head in a moment of joy. Mutombo's defensive presence was the key to the upset victory; his total of 31 blocks remains a record for a five-game series. In the second round of the playoffs, the Nuggets fell to the Utah Jazz, 4–3.
The next season, Mutombo was selected for his second All-Star game and received the NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award. Denver failed to build on its success from the previous playoffs, as Mutombo lacked a quality supporting cast around him.
During his last season with the Nuggets, Mutombo averaged 11.0 points per game, 11.8 rebounds per game and a career-high 4.5 blocks per game. At the conclusion of the 1995–96 season, Mutombo became a free agent, and reportedly sought a ten-year contract, something the Nuggets considered impossible to offer. Bernie Bickerstaff, then the Nuggets' general manager, later said not bringing back Mutombo was his biggest regret as GM.
Atlanta Hawks (1996–2001)
After the 1995–96 NBA season, Mutombo signed a five-year, $55 million free agent contract with the Atlanta Hawks. He and Hawks All-Star Steve Smith led Atlanta to back-to-back 50+-win seasons in 1996–97 and 1997–98. Mutombo won Defensive Player of the Year both years, continuing to put up excellent defensive numbers with the Hawks.In the 1997 NBA Playoffs, the Hawks defeated the Detroit Pistons in five games. In Game 1 of that series, Mutombo led all scorers and rebounders, with 26 points and 15 rebounds respectively, in a 89–75 win over the Pistons. In the next round, despite Mutombo averaging a double-double and 2.6 blocks per game, the Hawks lost in five games to the defending champion Chicago Bulls.
The following season, on April 9, 1998, Mutombo scored 20 points and grabbed 24 rebounds in a 105–102 loss to the Indiana Pacers. That season ended in disappointment for Mutombo and the Hawks, as despite finishing with a similar record to the previous season, Mutombo averaged only 8.0 points and 12.8 rebounds a game while the Hawks lost to their division rival Charlotte Hornets three games to one in the first round.
During the lockout-shortened 1998–99 season, he was the NBA's IBM Award winner, a player of the year award determined by a computerized formula. That year, the NBA banned the Mutombo finger wag, and after a period of protest, he complied with the new rule.
In his last full season with the Hawks during the 1999–00 season, Mutombo averaged 11.5 points per game, a career and league-high 14.1 rebounds per game and 3.3 blocks per game. On December 14, 1999, Mutombo scored 27 points, on 11-for-11 shooting from the field, grabbed a season-high 29 rebounds and recorded a game-high six blocks to pull out the win over the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Philadelphia 76ers (2001–2002)
At the February 2001 trade deadline, the Hawks traded Mutombo to the Eastern Conference-leading Philadelphia 76ers, along with Roshown McLeod, in exchange for Toni Kukoč, future teammates Pepe Sánchez and Nazr Mohammed, and injured center Theo Ratliff. One week earlier, Mutombo played in the All-Star game; he led the game with 22 rebounds and three blocks. Along with game MVP Allen Iverson and coach Larry Brown, both of the 76ers, the East rallied from a 95–74 fourth-quarter deficit to win 111–110 on Mutombo and Iverson's strong performances.After the game, rumors began of a trade sending Mutombo to Philadelphia. With Ratliff out for the remainder of the year, the Sixers needed a big man to compete with potential matchups against Western Conference powers Vlade Divac, Tim Duncan, David Robinson or Shaquille O'Neal, should they reach the NBA Finals.
Mutombo earned his fourth Defensive Player of the Year award that season. During the 2001 playoffs, they defeated the Indiana Pacers in four games, the Toronto Raptors in seven games and the Milwaukee Bucks in a seven-game series. During Game 7 against the Bucks, Mutombo scored 23 points, grabbed 19 rebounds and blocked seven shots to win the series. Mutombo helped the Sixers reach the NBA Finals. After pulling off an upset and winning Game 1 against the Los Angeles Lakers, the Sixers lost the next four games and the series. Matched up against Shaquille O'Neal, Mutombo averaged 16.8 points, 12.2 rebounds and 2.2 blocks. A free agent, he re-signed with the Sixers after the season to a four-year, $68 million contract.
The 2001–02 season marked the final time in Mutombo's career that he averaged double-digit points or rebounds, as he started 80 games for Philadelphia, although they lost in the first round of the playoffs.
New Jersey Nets (2002–2003)
On August 7, 2002, the 76ers traded Mutombo to the New Jersey Nets in exchange for Keith Van Horn and Todd MacCulloch. The Nets were coming off a sweep in the Finals where they were overmatched by Shaq, and brought in Mutombo as the missing piece to a championship, similar to what the Sixers did two seasons prior.Mutombo spent most of the season with a nagging wrist injury that limited him to 24 games. He was generally unable to play in the playoffs, typically serving as a sixth man during the Nets' second consecutive Finals run, in which they lost to the Spurs in six games. After one contentious season in New Jersey, the Nets bought out the remaining two years on his contract.