Remembering NBA Hall of Famer Dikembe Mutombo, dead at 58 from brain tumor

AILSA CHANG, HOST:

The NBA Hall of Famer Dikembe Mutombo has died of a brain tumor at the age of 58. On the basketball court, the 7-footer was known for blocking shots, after which he would wag his finger, a way to say, no, no, no. And off the court, he was known as a dedicated humanitarian. NPR’s Becky Sullivan has this remembrance.

BECKY SULLIVAN, BYLINE: Mutombo was born in Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, in 1966.

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DIKEMBE MUTOMBO: That’s where I was raised in the house of 10 children. With my mom and my dad was cousin, uncles.

SULLIVAN: Here he is speaking with NPR in 2006. He said, then, his dad made less than $40 a month.

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MUTOMBO: I remember I was in the third grade. I told my dad that I wanted to becoming a doctor (laughter).

SULLIVAN: Mutombo came to the U.S. to study medicine when he was 21 on a scholarship to Georgetown University. Within a week of his arrival, coach John Thompson had sized him up and put Mutombo on the team, and a basketball star was born.

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UNIDENTIFIED SPORTSCASTER #1: Mutombo.

SULLIVAN: Mutombo was fabulous on defense. He blocked shots with relish.

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UNIDENTIFIED SPORTSCASTER #2: Mutombo, rejected. That’s one.

SULLIVAN: He was named an All Star in his very first season in the NBA and soon developed his signature move – the finger wag.

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UNIDENTIFIED SPORTSCASTER #3: And Dik waves the finger. He says not in the house of Mutombo.

SULLIVAN: Crowds loved it. Soon, they were all wagging their fingers, too. And his opponent sometimes did, too. He once bragged to Michael Jordan that the superstar had never gotten a dunk on him. Months later, MJ got his revenge and wagged his finger right back.

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UNIDENTIFIED SPORTSCASTER #4: MJ – oh.

UNIDENTIFIED SPORTSCASTER #5: Oh, he did it. Michael shakes the finger. But he finally got his dunk on Mount Mutombo.

SULLIVAN: Mutombo’s career took him to Atlanta and Houston and a few other teams. He was an All Star eight times. But by the time the 2000s rolled around, he became more interested in humanitarian work, especially in Africa.

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MUTOMBO: I still have a little bit of passion. I still love the game, but the desire of kind of switched a little bit.

SULLIVAN: His foundation helped distribute polio vaccines, and he funded a new hospital in Kinshasa, for which President George W. Bush recognized him at the 2007 State of the Union Address.

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GEORGE W BUSH: And we’re proud to call the son of the Congo a citizen of the United States of America. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

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