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Dikembe Mutombo
Athlete

Dikembe Mutombo

Famoose for

Dominating NBA defence as a four-time Defensive Player of the Year.

Defensive awards · Shot-blocking

Born
25 June 1966
Birthplace
Kinshasa
Died
30 September 2024

More people

Lionel MessiLeading Argentina to the 2022 World Cup title.Serena WilliamsWinning 23 Grand Slam singles titles.Usain BoltRunning 100 metres in 9.58 seconds.

Dikembe Mutombo

Dikembe Mutombo was a Congolese-American basketball centre known for shot-blocking and humanitarian work. He played eighteen NBA seasons.

Early life

Georgetown

Moved from Kinshasa to the United States in 1987 and studied at Georgetown, where John Thompson recruited him for basketball.

Career

  1. 1991

    NBA draft

    Was selected fourth by the Denver Nuggets.

  2. 2001

    NBA Finals

    Reached the finals with Philadelphia.

  3. 2009

    Retirement

    Ended his playing career.

  4. 2015

    Hall of Fame

    Was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame.

Achievements

Defensive awards

Won Defensive Player of the Year four times.

Shot-blocking

Finished with 3,289 regular-season blocks.

Beyond sport

Humanitarian work

Supported health and community projects in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Sources & photo creditBiography and career ↗Biographical references ↗

Original photograph. Cropped and displayed in monochrome.

Photo: Cavic = Steve Lipofsky. CC BY-SA 3.0 · Original image. Cropped and displayed in monochrome.