One of the legends of the sporting industry passed away yesterday. Dikembe Mutombo was an outstanding basketball player with an 18-year NBA profession, and at 7-foot-2-inches high, he towered over simple beings as well as some of his friends and competition.
Advertisement
Mutombo was one of ten kids of a director and his wife and was born in 1966 in what is now the Republic of the Congo. At age 21, he came to the U. S. to play hockey at Georgetown University, and he parlayed his school victory into the NBA.
Mutombo spent almost 20 years in the major leagues, including five years with the Atlanta Hawks and Denver Nuggets. His shirt was retired from the NBA in 2009, and he was inducted in 2015. Both groups are now Hall of Famers.
Confession: I’m hardly a professional sports enthusiast, but certain people like Michael Jordan, Charles Barkley, and, of course, Mutombo have earned my appreciation over the years. When Mutombo retired, I learned a lot about him during his day there.
Mutombo excelled at blocking shots because of his strong core, level and approach. After a wall, he made his index finger his trademark move. He adapted that move into professional success because he became so well-known for it.
]embedded articles]
Mutombo was entertaining to watch, and his features were always worthwhile to look for. When Sportscenter cables, particularly Stuart Scott, if I recall correctly, may refer to him as Dikembe Mutombo Mpolondo Mukamba Jean-Jacques Wamutombo.
Advertisement
Recommended:  , Massive Chemical Plant Fire Causes Tens of Thousands to Evacuate in Suburban Atlanta
However, Mutombo’s living outside of sports was what made him so special. People frequently give short shrift to players with thick accents, and we tend to stereotype them as being under brains. Nevertheless, all of those stereotypes belied Mutombo’s products.
He had initially intended to study medicine, but he now speaks nine language. Otherwise, he graduated with degrees in grammar and politics. Both of those levels were beneficial to him both during and after his retirement from professional football.
Mutombo has long supported the Special Olympics and worked with a base that connects players to special-needs athletes. He contributed to the funding of the Republic of the Congo’s first cutting-edge doctor since the 1970s, which is named for his later family. His foundation also built the Samuel Mutombo Institute of Science &, Entrepreneurship, a current secondary school in the Republic of the Congo, which he named after his parents.
He devoted many hours and millions of dollars to preventing diseases in Africa and teaching people how to stay healthier. He was elected to the United States and served on the board of the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia.
Advertisement
Mutombo’s name appeared in an Atlanta trafficking controversy in the early 2000s, and he was accused of being a part of a Congolese gold-smuggling system in 2012. But he was a gentleman of heavy Christian faith, and in 2018, he talked to the Associated Press about his legacy of Christianity.
In 2022, Mutombo revealed that he had a mind malignancy, and it claimed his career on Monday. But he left behind a legacy of noble company and sports excellence in 58 little decades.