College
Mutombo originally intended to become a doctor; he attended Georgetown University on a USAID scholarship. Georgetown Hoyas basketball coach John Thompson recruited him to play basketball. He spoke almost no English when he arrived at Georgetown and studied in the ESL program. He became an excellent college center, continuing Georgetown's tradition of producing great big men. He was a celebrated shot blocker at Georgetown, setting a team record of twelve blocked shots in a single game. Building on the shot-blocking power of Mutombo and teammate Alonzo Mourning, Georgetown fans created a "Rejection Row" section under the basket, adding a big silhouette of an outstretched hand to a banner for each shot blocked during the game.
While at Georgetown, Mutombo's international background and interests stood out. Like many other Washington-area college students, he served as a summer intern, once for the Congress of the United States and once for the World Bank. In 1991 he graduated with bachelor's degrees in linguisticsand diplomacy.
NBA career
Denver Nuggets
Selected fourth overall by the Denver Nuggets in the 1991 NBA Draft, Mutombo's impact was immediate. As a rookie, he was selected for the All-Star team and averaged 16.6 points, 12.3 rebounds, and nearly three blocks per game. A cornerstone in the Nuggets' frontcourt, Mutombo became one of the league's best defensive players, regularly putting up big rebound and block numbers for five years with the club while averaging about 11 points a game. The team lacked a quality supporting cast, however, and at its best won only 42 games. In Mutombo's third season, however, Denver pulled off a major playoff upset by stunning the top-seeded Seattle SuperSonics in the first round, becoming the first eighth seed to win an NBA playoff series. At the end of Game 5, Mutombo fell to the ground, holding the ball over his head in a moment of joy. Mutombo's defensive presence was the key to the upset victory; his total of 31 blocks remains a record for a five-game series. The following season, he received the NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award.
Atlanta Hawks
After the 1995–96 NBA season, Mutombo's contract with the Nuggets expired, and he signed a free agent contract with the Atlanta Hawks. Mutombo continued to put up excellent defensive numbers with his new team. Joining the Hawks made him more noticeable, helping him win two more Defensive Player of the Year awards and earn several All-Defensive Team selections. He also became fairly well known for his signature finger waggle, which he would point in a player's direction after he had blocked that player's shot. During the lockout-shortened 1999 season, he was the NBA's IBM Awardwinner, a player of the year award determined by a computerized formula.
Philadelphia 76ers
The Hawks traded Mutombo to the Eastern Conference-leading Philadelphia 76ers in February 2001 for their injured center Theo Ratliff, as the Sixers needed a replacement stellar big man to compete with Western Conference powers Tim Duncan or Shaquille O'Neal, should they reach the finals. He earned his fourth Defensive Player of the Year award that season and also earned a trip to the NBA Finals, where the 76ers lost to the Los Angeles Lakers four games to one. A free-agent, he re-signed with the Sixers after the season. While his statistics were comparable in the 2001–02 season, the Sixers dealt him to the New Jersey Nets, fearing that his game had deteriorated.
New Jersey Nets
The Nets were looking for a more physical big man to compete with Shaquille O'Neal and Tim Duncan, two of the best big men in the league who also led championship-caliber teams in the West. But Mutombo spent most of that season with a nagging injury that limited him to just 24 games. He was generally unable to play in the playoffs, typically serving as a sixth man during the Nets' second consecutive Finals run.
New York Knicks
In October 2003, the Nets bought out the remainder of his contract and subsequently waived him. He signed a two-year deal with the New York Knicks a few days later. The Knicks later traded him to the Chicago Bulls in a package for Jamal Crawford. He never played a game for the Bulls, and they dealt him to the Houston Rockets in the 2004 offseason.
Houston Rockets
Mutombo most recently played as a reserve behind Yao Ming, forming one of the NBA's most productive center combos. In his first season with the Rockets (2004–05), Mutombo averaged 15.2 MPG, 5.3 RPG, and 4.0 PPG. The Rockets lost in the first round against the Dallas Mavericks. In the 2007–08 season, Mutombo yet again received extensive playing time when Yao went down with a broken bone and averaged double digits in rebounding as a starter. The additional playing time gave Mutombo the opportunity to continue accruing blocked shots at a record-setting pace. On January 10, 2008, in a 102–77 rout of the Los Angeles Lakers, Mutombo recorded 5 blocked shots and surpassed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in total career blocked shots. Mutombo is currently second only to Hakeem Olajuwon. Also, on March 2, 2007, in a win over the Denver Nuggets, at the age of 41, Mutombo became the oldest player in NBA history to record more than 20 rebounds in a game with 22. After contemplating retirement and spending the first part of 2008 as an unsigned unrestricted free agent, on December 31, 2008, Mutombo signed with the Houston Rockets for the remainder of the 2008–2009 season. He said that the 2009 season would be his "farewell tour" and his last.
In Game 1 of Houston's first round playoff series against Portland, Mutombo played for 18 minutes and had nine rebounds, two blocks, and a steal.
In the 2nd quarter of Game 2, Mutombo landed awkwardly and had to be carried from the floor. After the game, he said, "it’s over for me for my career" and that surgery would be needed. It was later confirmed that the quadriceps tendon of his left knee was ruptured in Game 2. Mutumbo announced retirement on April 23, 2009, after 18 seasons in the NBA.
Personal life
Mutombo was born in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Mutombo and his wife Rose have six children, four adopted.
Multilingual by both upbringing and education, Mutombo is able to speak English, French, Spanish, Portuguese and five African languages.
He was awarded an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters by the State University of New York College at Cortland for his humanitarian work in Africa.
More recently, Mutumbo was awarded an honorary doctorate by Georgetown University in 2010. There he delivered the commencement address for Georgetown College of Arts and Sciences, of which he is an alumnus. He also received an honorary doctorate degree from Haverford College in May 2011.
Mutombo's nephew Harouna Mutombo plays college basketball for the Western Carolina Catamounts. Harouna was the team's leading scorer for the 2009 season and was named Southern Conference Freshman of the Year.
Humanitarian work
A well-known humanitarian, Mutombo started the Dikembe Mutombo Foundation to improve living conditions in his native Democratic Republic of Congo in 1997. His efforts earned him the NBA's J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award in 2001 and 2009. For his feats, The Sporting News named him as one of the "Good Guys in Sports" in 1999 and 2000, and in 1999, he was elected as one of 20 winners of the President's Service Awards, the nation's highest honor for volunteer service. In 2004, he also participated in the Basketball Without Borders NBA program, where NBA stars like Shawn Bradley, Malik Rose and DeSagana Diop toured Africa to spread the word about basketball and to improve the infrastructure. He also paid for uniforms and expenses for the Zaire women's basketball team during the 1996 Centennial Olympic Games in Atlanta. Mutombo is a spokesman for the international relief agency, CARE and is the first Youth Emissary for the United Nations Development Program.
In honor of his humanitarianism, Mutombo was invited to President George W. Bush's 2007 State of the Union Address and was referred to as a "son of the Congo" by the President in his speech. Mutombo later said, "My heart was full of joy. I didn't know the President was going to say such great remarks."
On April 13, 2011, the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health awarded Dikembe Mutombo the Goodermote Humanitarian Award "for his efforts to reduce polio globally as well as his work improving the health of neglected and underserved populations in the Democratic Republic of Congo." Michael J. Klag, dean of the Bloomberg School of Public Health said “Mr. Mutombo is a winner in many ways—on the court and as a humanitarian. His work has improved the health of the people of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and the Biamba Marie Mutombo Hospital and Research Center is a model for the region. Likewise, Mr. Mutombo has been instrumental in the fight against polio by bolstering vaccination efforts and bringing treatment to victims of the disease.”
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[edit]Career summary and highlights
- 4-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year: 1995, 1997, 1998, 2001
- 8-time NBA All-Star: 1992, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2002
- 3-time All-NBA:
- Second Team: 2001
- Third Team: 1998, 2002
- 6-time All-Defensive:
- First Team: 1997, 1998, 2001
- Second Team: 1995, 1999, 2002
- NBA All-Rookie First Team: 1992
- 2nd on All-Time NBA recorded Blocks, 3,256.
- 2-time NBA regular-season leader, rebounding average: 2000 (14.1), 2001 (13.5)
- 4-time NBA regular-season leader, total rebounds: 1995 (1029), 1997 (929), 1999 (610), 2000 (1157)
- NBA regular-season leader, offensive rebounds: 2001 (307)
- 2-time NBA regular-season leader, defensive rebounds: 1999 (418), 2000 (853)
- 3-time NBA regular-season leader, blocked shots average: 1994 (4.1), 1995 (3.9), 1996 (4.5)
- 5-time NBA regular-season leader, total blocks: 1994 (336), 1995 (321), 1996 (332), 1997 (264), 1998 (277)
- Career averages (as of March 2008): 9.9 PPG, 10.4 RPG, 2.7 BPG
- Invited to be a special guest at President George W. Bush's State of the Union address, commended for his humanitarian aid to his homeland.
- Oldest player in NBA history to collect over 20 rebounds in a game (March 2, 2007 vs. Denver Nuggets)
NBA career statistics
| Legend | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | Games played | GS | Games started | MPG | Minutes per game |
| FG% | Field-goal percentage | 3P% | 3-point field-goal percentage | FT% | Free-throw percentage |
| RPG | Rebounds per game | APG | Assists per game | SPG | Steals per game |
| BPG | Blocks per game | PPG | Points per game | Bold | Career high |
Regular season
Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1991–92 | Denver | 71 | 71 | 38.3 | .493 | .000 | .642 | 12.3 | 2.2 | .6 | 3.0 | 16.6 |
| 1992–93 | Denver | 82 | 82 | 36.9 | .510 | .000 | .681 | 13.0 | 1.8 | .5 | 3.5 | 13.8 |
| 1993–94 | Denver | 82 | 82 | 34.8 | .569 | .000 | .583 | 11.8 | 1.5 | .7 | 4.1 | 12.0 |
| 1994–95 | Denver | 82 | 82 | 37.8 | .556 | .000 | .654 | 12.5 | 1.4 | .5 | 3.9 | 11.5 |
| 1995–96 | Denver | 74 | 74 | 36.7 | .499 | .000 | .695 | 11.8 | 1.5 | .5 | 4.5 | 11.0 |
| 1996–97 | Atlanta | 80 | 80 | 37.2 | .527 | .000 | .705 | 11.6 | 1.4 | .6 | 3.3 | 13.3 |
| 1997–98 | Atlanta | 82 | 82 | 35.6 | .537 | .000 | .670 | 11.4 | 1.0 | .4 | 3.4 | 13.4 |
| 1998–99 | Atlanta | 50 | 50 | 36.6 | .512 | .000 | .684 | 12.2 | 1.1 | .3 | 2.9 | 10.8 |
| 1999–00 | Atlanta | 82 | 82 | 36.4 | .562 | .000 | .708 | 14.1 | 1.3 | .3 | 3.3 | 11.5 |
| 2000–01 | Atlanta | 49 | 49 | 35.0 | .477 | .000 | .695 | 14.1 | 1.1 | .4 | 2.8 | 9.1 |
| 2000–01 | Philadelphia | 26 | 26 | 33.7 | .495 | .000 | .759 | 12.4 | .8 | .3 | 2.5 | 11.7 |
| 2001–02 | Philadelphia | 80 | 80 | 36.3 | .501 | .000 | .764 | 10.8 | 1.0 | .4 | 2.4 | 11.5 |
| 2002–03 | New Jersey | 24 | 16 | 21.4 | .374 | .000 | .727 | 6.4 | .8 | .2 | 1.5 | 5.8 |
| 2003–04 | New York | 65 | 56 | 23.0 | .478 | .000 | .681 | 6.7 | .4 | .3 | 1.9 | 5.6 |
| 2004–05 | Houston | 80 | 2 | 15.2 | .498 | .000 | .741 | 5.3 | .1 | .2 | 1.3 | 4.0 |
| 2005–06 | Houston | 64 | 23 | 14.9 | .526 | .000 | .758 | 4.8 | .1 | .3 | .9 | 2.6 |
| 2006–07 | Houston | 75 | 33 | 17.2 | .556 | .000 | .690 | 6.5 | .2 | .3 | 1.0 | 3.1 |
| 2007–08 | Houston | 39 | 25 | 15.9 | .538 | .000 | .711 | 5.1 | .1 | .3 | 1.2 | 3.0 |
| 2008–09 | Houston | 9 | 2 | 10.7 | .385 | .000 | .667 | 3.7 | .0 | .0 | 1.2 | 1.8 |
| Career | 1196 | 997 | 30.8 | .518 | .000 | .684 | 10.3 | 1.0 | .4 | 2.8 | 9.8 | |
| All-Star | 8 | 3 | 17.5 | .595 | .000 | .750 | 9.3 | .3 | .4 | 1.2 | 6.3 |
Playoffs
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1993–94 | Denver | 12 | 12 | 42.6 | .463 | .000 | .602 | 12.0 | 1.8 | .7 | 5.8 | 13.3 |
| 1994–95 | Denver | 3 | 3 | 28.0 | .600 | .000 | .667 | 6.3 | .3 | .0 | 2.3 | 6.0 |
| 1996–97 | Atlanta | 10 | 10 | 41.5 | .628 | .000 | .719 | 12.3 | 1.3 | .1 | 2.6 | 15.4 |
| 1997–98 | Atlanta | 4 | 4 | 34.0 | .458 | .000 | .625 | 12.8 | .3 | .2 | 2.2 | 8.0 |
| 1998–99 | Atlanta | 9 | 9 | 42.2 | .563 | .000 | .702 | 13.9 | 1.2 | .6 | 2.6 | 12.6 |
| 2000–01 | Philadelphia | 23 | 23 | 42.7 | .490 | .000 | .777 | 13.7 | .7 | .6 | 3.1 | 13.9 |
| 2001–02 | Philadelphia | 5 | 5 | 34.6 | .452 | .000 | .615 | 10.6 | .6 | .4 | 1.8 | 8.8 |
| 2002–03 | New Jersey | 10 | 0 | 11.5 | .467 | .000 | 1.000 | 2.7 | .6 | .3 | .9 | 1.8 |
| 2003–04 | New York | 3 | 0 | 12.7 | .333 | .000 | 1.000 | 3.3 | .0 | .3 | 1.3 | 2.3 |
| 2004–05 | Houston | 7 | 0 | 14.4 | .545 | .000 | .769 | 5.0 | .3 | .3 | 1.0 | 3.1 |
| 2006–07 | Houston | 7 | 0 | 5.7 | 1.000 | .000 | 1.000 | 1.6 | .1 | .0 | .4 | 1.3 |
| 2007–08 | Houston | 6 | 6 | 20.5 | .615 | .000 | .636 | 6.5 | .3 | .2 | 1.8 | 3.8 |
| 2008–09 | Houston | 2 | 0 | 10.0 | .000 | .000 | .000 | 4.5 | .0 | .5 | 1.0 | .0 |
| Career | 101 | 72 | 30.9 | .517 | .000 | .703 | 9.5 | .8 | .4 | 2.5 | 9.1 |
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