Dikembe Mutombo, Hall of Fame NBA player who swatted shots for Nuggets, dies at 58 from brain cancer
Denver Post
Dikembe Mutombo, the beloved basketball player who spent the first five seasons of his Hall of Fame career in Denver, died Monday from brain cancer, the NBA announced. He was 58.
Mutombo’s family revealed two years ago that he was undergoing treatment in Atlanta for a brain tumor. The league said he died surrounded by loved ones.
The 7-foot-2 center introduced his iconic finger wag celebration and earned the nickname “Mt. Mutombo” when he was a burgeoning star for the Nuggets. He led the NBA in blocks three consecutive seasons and won his first Defensive Player of the Year award with Denver in 1995. And he was on the 1993-94 team that came back from a 2-0 series deficit to become the first No. 8 seed to upset a No. 1 seed in NBA playoff history.
In what remains one of the most indelible images in franchise history, Mutombo seized the final rebound of the series, held onto the ball for dear life and melted to the floor as time expired and Denver’s 98-94 win went final, beaming while his teammates celebrated around him.
“Dikembe Mutombo was simply larger than life,” NBA commissioner Adam Silver said in a statement. “On the court, he was one of the greatest shot blockers and defensive players in the history of the NBA. Off the floor, he poured his heart and soul into helping others.”
Mutombo went on to play for the Atlanta Hawks, Philadelphia 76ers, New Jersey Nets, New York Knicks and Houston Rockets before retiring from basketball after the 2008-09 season. He won Defensive Player of the Year four times and made eight All-Star teams, six All-Defensive teams and three All-NBA teams.
But his numbers were at their best when he was a Nugget: 12.9 points, 12.3 rebounds, 1.7 assists and — most importantly — 3.8 blocks per game. His 391 games in a Denver uniform were the most he played for any team.
“That organization made me the face of the team and the face of the city, and it made me their franchise player,” Mutombo told The Denver Post in 2020. “… I don’t know, if I’d gone to some city that is very flat, like other cities in America where there’s no mountains, would they have called me Mt. Mutombo? You cannot forget where you were born. It’s because of the city of Denver that Mt. Mutombo was born. I think Dikembe Mutombo’s career was born with the Denver Nuggets.”
During and after his playing career, Mutombo was known for his humanitarian work. He became a global ambassador for the NBA and served on the boards of many organizations, including Special Olympics International, the CDC Foundation and the National Board for the U.S. Fund for UNICEF. While he was playing for Atlanta in 1997, he founded the Dikembe Mutombo Foundation to improve living conditions in his home country, the Democratic Republic of Congo.
“He loved what the game of basketball could do to make a positive impact on communities,” Silver said in the league statement. “… I had the privilege of traveling the world with Dikembe and seeing first-hand how his generosity and compassion uplifted people,” Silver said in the statement. “He was always accessible at NBA events over the years — with his infectious smile, deep booming voice and signature finger wag that endeared him to basketball fans of every generation.”