Dikembe Mutombo Dies: Basketball Hall Of Famer Who Served As An Ambassador For The Sport Was 58
deadline.comDikembe Mutombo, the shot-blocking specialist who Hall of Fame career included being named NBA Defensive Player of the Year four times over 18 seasons and was an ambassador for the sport after his retirement, has died.
He was 58. The NBA said today that he died of brain cancer in Atlanta but did not give any other details. He had been diagnosed in 2022. “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. … “There was nobody more qualified than Dikembe to serve as the NBA’s first Global Ambassador.” The 7-foot-2 “Mount Mutombo” played 18 seasons starting with the Denver Nuggets, who picked him fourth overall in the 1991 NBA Draft out of Georgetown University, where he was the two-time Big East Defensive Player of the Year.
He played five seasons with the team before moving on to the Atlanta Hawks, Philadelphia 76s, New Jersey Nets, New York Knicks and finishing with the Houston Rockets, retiring at 42 after the 2008-09 campaign.
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