(Ecofin Agency) – Ultimately, one of the best defenders in the history of the NBA, the American basketball league, could only slow down the fate that was besetting him. Dikembe Mutombo, the man affectionately known to all basketball fans as Mount Mutombo, has died. He died of a brain tumor while at the end of a rich sporting career he was committed to developing basketball in Africa.
In the world of basketball, the date of September 30 now serves as a painful memory. Monday September 30, 2024, fans of sport and its practitioners, all over the world, learned of the disappearance of Dikembe Mutombo. For the vast majority of basketball fans, it is one of the greatest legends of this sport who is leaving the scene. But in Africa, we cry much more than the player. Beyond the player with unreal energy, the giant with a big heart from Kinshasa, the Congolese was above all a great lover of his continent of origin.
The 7e son of the Mutombo
The folklores of many cultures around the world attribute almost supernatural abilities to the seventh sons. If Dikembe Mutombo’s life resembles a fairy tale, his early years are nevertheless rather banal. They began on June 25, 1966 in Léopoldville in Zaire or rather in Kinshasa, because it was precisely during the month of the boy’s birth that the city changed its name. It was therefore in a modest area of the city that Dikembe Mutombo Mpolondo Mukamba Jean-Jacques Wamutombo grew up, on 7e of a family of 9 children. During his early years, the young boy grew up studying and helping his mother and her small business. Under the guidance of his father’s teacher, young Dikembe Mutombo learned Spanish, Portuguese, Italian and five African languages. He didn’t really practice sport until he was 15 when his family realized that young Dikembe had something special: barely a teenager, he was already more than 2m high. His older brothers then suggested that he take up football.
The meeting with basketball
The young Dikembe Mutombo takes up football which he plays from time to time. But one day, when he was 18, he tried basketball during a first meeting. This very first match ends with a serious chin injury after a fall. “The first time I played, I fell on my chin. I still carry the scar,” the player laughed in an interview years later. Not enough to dissuade him from playing the orange ball again, but at this stage of his life, even if he will ultimately play for a local club, he does not really imagine a career in this sport. The Congolese wants to visit the hospital, but not as a patient. Dikembe Mutombo dreams of becoming a doctor. To give himself the means to accomplish his dream, the young man excels in his studies. He was so diligent that in 1987, he obtained a scholarship from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to attend Georgetown University. Originally, the young boy was only supposed to study medicine there. But when John Thompson, the coach of the university team, noticed him playing with a ball in the university gymnasium, he decided to play the Congolese at all costs. That’s a good thing, Dikembe Mutombo does not immediately start his study program once he arrives at Georgetown. He must first do a year of acclimatization to English. During this year, John Thompson sent him to learn the basics of basketball in a local championship.
The first steps in the NBA
After a year of acclimatization to English and basketball, Dikembe Mutombo made his debut with the Georgetown team. He will not be established until the coach tests him as a winger and the Congolese produces extraordinary performances. The Congolese giant is not necessarily the most elegant player to watch or does not make a series of fanciful gestures, but any basketball fan realizes that he excels in a very specific area: defense. His size, his physical constitution and above all his pugnacity make him a unique defender of his kind. He was voted best defender in the Big East College Conference in 1990 and 91, and left Georgetown with the best shooting percentage in college history (64.4%). Only, shining at university is good, but if the Congolese wants to be one of the best, he must go to the NBA. He entered the draft, the annual event during which teams choose among young talents, and was selected to join the Denver Nuggets roster. “ I have a thought for the young people in my area. My draft is a life lesson and I hope they can follow the path », Rejoices Dikembe Mutombo a few minutes after the Draft. He doesn’t know it yet, but his journey, that of one of the most iconic players in the history of basketball, has only just begun.
The legend of Mount Mutombo
Despite the draft, Dikembe Mutombo does not really feel in his place. He gets a new image of himself when 11-time NBA champion Bill Russell takes him under his wing to help him acclimate to the big league. The legend is actually a very close friend of John Thompson, the former coach of the Congolese. Legend advises Dikembe Mutombo on ways to become dominant in defense. “I spent five days with him, he convinced me of my potential. He assured me that I could become a star”declares Mutombo proudly. From this moment on, Dikembe Mutombo will never be the same. Full of confidence, the player begins his NBA career on fire. The American sports magazine Sports Illustrated described it in these terms: “Mutombo is a pivot who defends the racket with the severity of a bailiff”. Soon, the Congolese became a defensive reference in the NBA, but not only that. At the end of his first season, he averaged 16.6 points, 12.3 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 3 blocks per game. Dikembe Mutombo also succeeds in making the defense spectacular in a sport which often only has laurels for the offensive phases.
« Not in my house »
Known for blocking opposing shots, the Congolese began to accompany each defensive sequence with a gimmick that has become legendary. Every time he fights against an opponent, he exclaims « not in my house, no,no,no [pas dans ma maison, non,non,non] »to show his opponent his domination in the racket, the area which immediately surrounds the basketball hoop. He accompanies this sentence with a gesture: the finger wag which consists of shaking his finger no. Finally, the opponents complained and forced Dikembe Mutombo, with fines, to stop this type of celebration. Dikembe Mutombo and his phrase nevertheless became famous throughout the world. With his blocks, the insurmountable defender of the Denver Nuggets earns the nickname Mount Mutombo. If his qualities do not bring individual trophies to his franchise, the Congolese has a string of individual awards. Best blocker in the NBA three seasons in a row: in 1994, 1995 and 1996, he was also selected for the All Star Game, the gala match for the best players in the league on several occasions. Dikembe Mutombo will never win the title of NBA champion, but during his career he will be best defender of the year 4 times, invited to the All Star Game 8 times, best blocker 3 times, best rebounder three times and 3 times member of the NBA’s annual Most Valuable Players team. Above all, he has a small rivalry with Michael Jordan, considered the best basketball player of all time. Dikembe Mutombo lets the American know that he has never managed a slam dunk on him. The Congolese pushes his confidence to the point of telling Michael Jordan that he will never succeed. A few weeks later, the American succeeded and accompanied his dunk with the famous finger wag. At the end of his career, Dikembe Mutombo experienced everything about the life of a basketball superstar outside of the titles. Since 1993, Adidas has dedicated a sneaker model to him recalling the player’s Congolese origins. Having played for the New York Knicks and the Houston Rockets, the Congolese ended his career in 2009, after an injury. In 2015, he became the first African member of the Hall of Fame, the NBA pantheon. This distinction definitively places Mount Mutombo among the players who have had the most impact on world basketball.
The philanthropist
Alongside his sporting career, Dikembe Mutombo has also been a great philanthropist. It all began in 1997 when his mother died of a heart attack without being able to access medical care due to the tense political situation at the time which led to curfews. In the process, he founded the Dikembe Mutombo Foundation in 1997. The player also decides to raise funds to build a hospital in the DRC. “I thought I could easily raise funds for this cause”he assured in an interview. Ultimately, the hospital cost $29 million, $15 million of which came from Dikembe Mutombo himself. The hospital is named Biamba Marie Mutombo after her mother. In 2004, the player also became the NBA’s first international ambassador. Despite his sporting career spent in the United States, his attachment to his country and his love for Africa seem intact. “I have never forgotten my country of origin which is Congo. Although I live in America, I always wanted to help the Congo”confides Dikembe Mutombo in an interview.
https://information.tv5monde.com/afrique/video/rd-congo-lhopital-legue-par-dikembe-mutombo-2742392
In 2022, Dikembe Mutombo reveals to the press that he suffers from a brain tumor. Despite a long fight, he succumbed to the disease in September 2024. “Dikembe Mutombo was simply larger than life. On the court, he was one of the best shot blockers and defensive players in NBA history.”said Adam Silver, commissioner of the NBA. The Denver Nuggets and the Atlanta Hawks, two former teams of the Congolese, have decided to remove his number, 55, from their squads. “He is an example to follow, because what he earned abroad, he invested in his own country, through social and charitable works for the well-being of posterity”says Ruffin Nsumbu, administrator of the Dikembe Mutombo Foundation.
Servan Ahougnon
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