Dikembe Mutombo, the basketball Hall of Famer who had his uniform number retired by the Hawks, died Monday from brain cancer. He was 58 years old.
He was surrounded by his family, according to the NBA.
The Hawks retired Mutombo’s No. 55 in November 2015 after he spent four-plus years of his 18-year NBA career with the franchise. He joined Bob Pettit (9), Dominque Wilkins (21), Lou Hudson (23) and Pete Maravich (44) to have their numbers retired by the Hawks. Mutombo also played for the Nuggets, Rockets, 76ers, Knicks and Nets over his career. His number was also retired by the Nuggets.
Two months before the Hawks retired his number, the native of the Congo was enshrined into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
“I wanted to be remembered as one of the best defensive players to play this game,” Mutombo said during his speech. “I think I accomplished that.”
Defense did matter to Mutombo, the 7-foot-2 center. It was, in fact, a point of pride with him. He is second on the NBA’s all-time career blocks list with 3,289 and 20th on the rebound list with 12,359. He was an eight-time All-Star, a four-time Defensive Player of the Year and a six-time All-Defensive Team selection.
His full name was Dikembe Mutombo Mpolondo Mukamba Jean-Jacques Wamutombo.
In May, Mutombo’s son Ryan, himself a 7-2 center, transferred to Georgia Tech after three seasons at Georgetown. Ryan Mutombo posted on social media Monday. His statement, in part, read:
“My dad will forever be my hero. Not because of his success — not because of the millions who, over the last four decades, have come to know and love him. My dad is my hero because he simply cared. He remains the purest heart I have ever known.
“At times I thought my dad was a super-human. The child in me would sigh to hear that this was never actually the case. My dad was a regular man who would stop at no lengths, to honor the world, its people, and its creator. He loved others with every ounce of his being. That’s what made him so accessible. That’s what made him real.”
Mutombo, who had a booming low voice, was famous for his finger wag after blocking the shot of the many players who dared challenge him down low. He even turned the move into commercial success in retirement.
“Dikembe will be missed,” former Hawks vice president of communications Arthur Triche told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “I know this is going to crush a lot of his teammates, whether it’s here, Denver, Houston. He made an impact everywhere he was. He was one of the NBA’s greatest ambassadors.”
Indeed Mutombo was known for his work off the court. He built a hospital in his native Congo and visited often, even during his playing days.
“There was nobody more qualified than Dikembe to serve as the NBA’s first Global Ambassador,” NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said in a statement. “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 was presented by Hall of Famers John Thompson, his coach at Georgetown University, and David Stern, the former NBA Commissioner.
“Dikembe was smart enough to understand that his identity that rebounding and blocking shots,” Thompson said in a taped interview played at the ceremony. “And it carried him all the way through the NBA.”
After his college career at Georgetown, the Nuggets selected Mutombo with the fourth overall pick of the 1991 NBA draft. After the 1995-96 season, Mutombo signed a 5-year, $55 million free-agent contract with the Hawks. He helped lead the Hawks to back-to-back 50-plus win seasons in 1996-97 and 1997-98. Mutombo won Defensive Player of the Year both years.
Former Hawks General Manager Pete Babcock fondly remembered Mutombo.
“He literally was larger than life,” Babcock told the AJC. “As a personality, as a person, as a humanitarian, in every way. That’s the best way to describe him. His booming voice, everything about him was larger than life.”
Babcock said in recruiting Mutombo as a free agent, he sold him on the city of Atlanta and a team that had a chance to be very good with a shot-blocking center. Mutombo ended up making Atlanta his home even after he retired.
“I told him you are going to come to the city where we have great diversity,” Babcock said. “It’s a city that has political and business leaders who are largely African-American. We have so many different diverse groups that make up Atlanta that I think you will enjoy it.”
Hawks owner Tony Ressler issued a statement Monday. It, in part, read:
“We are deeply saddened by the news of Dikembe Mutombo’s passing.
“Dikembe was a proud and honorable man, who lived up to the definition of a word that became synonymous with his name — humanitarian. He used his many gifts and his platform to improve the lives of everyone he encountered, especially in his homeland of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and throughout Africa.”
The world-wide humanitarian efforts of Mutombo remained at the center of his heart, especially after his retirement. He ended his Hall of Fame speech with thoughts on what he has done and had yet to do, especially on his home continent.
“Playing basketball allowed me to become a global citizen,” Mutombo said during his Hall of Fame speech. “It is because of the game that I was able to build a hospital in the Congo, which has now served over 140,000 people. My life’s mission is to continue to change the living conditions of the people of Africa. I may not have won the championship but I’m a champion to so many people.”
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