NBA star Dikembe Mutombo has died at the age of 58 after battling brain cancer. Born in Kinshasa, the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, he played college basketball for the Georgetown Hoyas before starting his NBA career in 1991. He graduated with degrees in Linguistics and Diplomacy and was fluent in nine languages. He also received an honorary doctorate from Georgetown in 2010.

Standing at 7 feet 2 inches tall, Mutombo played as a center and earned a reputation as one of the game’s most dominant defensive players and shot blockers. He averaged 9.8 points and 10.3 rebounds per game over his career, and his jersey number 55 is retired by both the Nuggets and the Hawks. He was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2015.

Mutombo was also famous for his finger wagging after blocking shots, a move that became iconic. He ranks second in NBA history with 3,289 blocks, trailing Hakeem Olajuwon, who holds the record with 3,830. Before retiring in 2009, he played for 18 seasons in the NBA, representing the Denver Nuggets, Atlanta Hawks, Philadelphia 76ers, then-New Jersey Nets, New York Knicks and Houston Rockets. Mutombo was an 8-time All-Star and a 4-time Defensive Player of the Year.

“Dikembe Mutombo was simply larger than life,” NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said. “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.”

Legacy Beyond Basketball

Beyond his basketball achievements, Mutombo was also recognized as a humanitarian. He traveled to the Somali refugee camps in northern Kenya in 1993 as a spokesperson for CARE, an international relief agency. He also visited Cape Town and Johannesburg. Mutombo covered the travel expenses for Congo’s women’s basketball team for the 1996 Summer Olympic Games in Atlanta. Additionally, he paid for the track team’s uniforms and expenses.

In 1997, Mutombo founded the Dikembe Mutombo Foundation, which aims to improve health, education and quality of life for the people of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The foundation led to the creation of the Biamba Marie Mutombo Hospital in Kinshasa, which opened in 2007. The hospital provides care to people regardless of their financial situation. Mutombo donated $15 million to build the hospital, named after his mother.

Mutombo has been on the boards of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), the National Constitution Center, Special Olympics International and on the National Board for the U.S. Fund for UNICEF. In 2009, he became the NBA’s first Global Ambassador, where he promoted and celebrated basketball while collaborating with NBA Cares to highlight important social issues. Mutombo established the first Special Olympics program in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 2017.

Mutombo has earned several awards and honors over the years for his efforts, including the NBA’s J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award in 2001 and 2009. According to the NBA, the “honor, named after the NBA’s second commissioner, is presented annually by the Professional Basketball Writers Association (PBWA) to a player, coach or athletic trainer who shows outstanding service and dedication to the community.” Mutombo is the only person to win this award twice.

His son, Ryan Mutombo, wrote a tribute to his father on social media recently, which included the following:

“My dad will forever be my hero. Not because of his success — not because of the millions who, over the last four decades, have come to know and love him. My dad is my hero because he simply cared. He remains the purest heart I have ever known.”