Atlanta Hawks
Atlanta Hawks

Dikembe Mutombo to receive NBA’s Sager Strong Award

112415 ATLANTA: -- Hawks Legend Dikembe Mutombo is all smiles as he has his No. 55 jersey retired by the Hawks during half time in a basketball game against the Celtics on Tuesday, Nov. 24, 2015, in Atlanta. Curtis Compton / ccompton@ajc.com

Credit: ccompton@ajc.com

Credit: ccompton@ajc.com

112415 ATLANTA: -- Hawks Legend Dikembe Mutombo is all smiles as he has his No. 55 jersey retired by the Hawks during half time in a basketball game against the Celtics on Tuesday, Nov. 24, 2015, in Atlanta. Curtis Compton / ccompton@ajc.com
By Juliakate E Culpepper
May 22, 2018

Hall of Famer Dikembe Mutombo will be awarded this year’s Sager Strong Award on June 25, Turner and the NBA announced Tuesday.

Mutombo will be the second recipient of the award, named after former Turner Sports broadcaster Craig Sager. NBA player and coach Monty Williams received the inaugural award in 2017.

The Sager Strong Award is presented to an individual who embodied courage, faith, compassion and grace while being a trailblazer in their field. Sager died in 2016 after a long, public battle  with leukemia.

Mutombo, an eight-time NBA All-Star and former first-round draft pick, was chosen as this year’s recipient because of his humanitarian work to help improve the health, education and quality of life in his native Democratic Republic of the Congo.

One of Mutombo’s many accomplishments in the Congo came in 2007 when the former Atlanta Hawk opened the Biamba Marie Mutombo Hospital. Since its opening, the hospital has treated over a quarter of a million patients.

The award presentation will take place on “NBA Awards,” which will air at 9 p.m. Monday, June 25 on TNT.

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Juliakate E Culpepper
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