A star of the NBA and African sport disappears. In a press release released late Monday afternoon, Adam Silver, commissioner of the powerful North American basketball league, announced the death at the age of 58 of Dikembe Mutombo, one of the defensive legends of this sport. From a height of 2.18 m, the native of Kinshasa (Democratic Republic of Congo, former Zaire) fell after two years of a heavy battle with a brain tumor.
“On the floor, he was one of the greatest blockers and defensive players in NBA history,” Adam Silver wrote in a press release. Off the court, he gave himself body and soul to help others. There was no one other than Dikembe to be the NBA’s first global ambassador. He was deeply humanitarian. He loved that basketball could have a positive impact on communities, especially in the Democratic Republic of Congo and the African continent. »
Dikembe Mutombo spent eighteen seasons with different NBA clubs. Selected in 4th position in the 1991 draft by the Denver Nuggets, the giant quickly made a name for himself, becoming an “All-star” in his first season. Best defender of the season in 1995, “Mount Mutombo” won this award four times in total (1995, 1997, 1998, 2001), under three different jerseys: the Denver Nuggets, the Atlanta Hawks and the 76th of Philadelphia, franchise with which he played the first of his two NBA finals (2001). The second will take place in 2003, against Frenchman Tony Parker, with the New Jersey Nets.
With 3,289 cumulative blocks in his career, he sits in second place among the best in this category, stuck between Hakeem Olajuwon and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Dikembe Mutombo’s career ended in 2009 with the Houston Rockets. In 2015, he was elected to the NBA Hall of Fame. In October 2022, the league announced his illness. On September 30, 2024, he died, surrounded by his loved ones.
