The NBA family lost another legend on Monday morning.
In what has been a tough year with the losses of Jerry West, Bill Walton, and Chet Walker, insider Shams Charania broke news Monday that Hall of Fame center Dikembe Mutombo has died of brain cancer at the age of 58.
The fourth overall draft choice in the 1991 NBA Draft by the Denver Nuggets, the Georgetown product averaged 16.6 points, 12.3 rebounds, and 3.0 blocks as a rookie, garnering All-Star honors. In the Nuggets’ 1994 first-round series against the Seattle SuperSonics, Mutombo led an upset for the 8th-seeded Nuggets. He averaged 6.2 blocks in the series.
In an 18-year-career that lasted until he was 42 years old, Mutombo averaged 9.8 points, 10.3 rebounds, and 2.8 blocks per game. He led the league in blocks per game from 1993-1996, averaging 4.1, 3.9, and 4.5. He also led the NBA in rebounding for two seasons (14.1 in 1999-2000 and 13.5 in 2000-2001). He was an eight-time All-Star.
Mutombo was traded to the Philadelphia 76ers 49 games into the 2000-2001 season, a campaign in which he won Defensive Player of the Year honors. The 76ers made the NBA Finals that year where they lost to the Los Angeles Lakers in five games.
Mutombo played for the New Jersey Nets in 2002-2023 before playing for the New York Knicks in 2003-2004. From 2004-2009, he played for the Houston Rockets, where he played the role of mentor to All-Star Yao Ming.
He was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame on Sept. 11, 2015 and has his number 55 jersey retired by both the Denver Nuggets and Atlanta Hawks.
Mutombo was the NBA’s first Global Ambassador, and was awarded the J. Walker Kennedy Citizenship Award in 2001 and 2009. In 1997, he created the Dikembe Mutombo foundation to help those in his native home the Democratic Republic of Congo, where he built hospitals. He was invited by then-President George W. Bush to his 2007 State of the Union Address.
RIP, Dikembe Mutombo.
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