Dikembe Mutombo (SLL ’91, H ’10), a Georgetown University men’s basketball icon who became a basketball Hall of Famer for his rebounding and blocking prowess with the NBA’s Denver Nuggets and Atlanta Hawks, died Sept. 30 after a two-year battle with brain cancer. He was 58.
Mutombo, a center, became one of Georgetown’s greatest-ever players, dominating in the paint and defensively before achieving stardom in an 18-year NBA career. Throughout, Mutombo was known for his philanthropy, funding and supporting humanitarian efforts particularly in Central Africa.
“Dikembe Mutombo was simply larger than life,” NBA Commissioner Adam Silver wrote in a press release. “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.”
Dikembe Mutombo Mpolondo Mukamba Jean-Jacques Wamutombo was born June 25, 1966, in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo. He won an international science competition his senior year of high school and received a USAID scholarship to Georgetown, initially planning to study medicine.
Standing 7-foot-2, he was recruited by former men’s basketball coach John Thompson Jr. and played on a basketball scholarship his final three years at Georgetown. Mutombo did not speak English when he arrived in the United States and learned the language in just a few weeks.
“I went to English class from 9:30 to 2:30, then I had to go to my other classes after I got out from my English class,” Mutombo told The Hoya in 2021. “Then I had to go to basketball practice, then I had to lift weights, then I had to go eat, then I had to go study. I used to get back to my dorm at 8 p.m., after leaving at 8 in the morning.”
A virtual unknown outside Georgetown’s gates, Mutombo began playing for the men’s basketball team in the 1988-89 season as a sophomore. His performance on the court instantly spoke to his defensive prowess: During his rookie season, Mutombo blocked 12 shots in a single game against St. John’s University — an NCAA single-game record — setting the stage for a formidable frontcourt partnership with Alonzo Mourning (COL ’92) known as “Rejection Row” and helping his team to an Elite Eight finish.
During his junior season, Mutombo began to play more, averaging a double-double — 10 points and 10 rebounds — in the 24 games he started. Though the Hoyas were knocked out early in the NCAA tournament, Mutombo was named Big East defensive player of the year and second-team all-Big East.
With Mourning injured, Mutombo became the Hoya offense’s focal point as a senior, leading the team in scoring and repeatedly leading the team in rebounds — tallying 27 in the Big East Tournament quarterfinal matchup against the University of Connecticut. In all, Mutombo recorded 947 points, 354 blocked shots and a whopping 823 rebounds over his three-year college career.
After graduating from Georgetown with degrees in linguistics and diplomacy, Mutombo was the No. 4 overall pick in the 1991 NBA draft, going to the Denver Nuggets.
“I like to sit back and listen to how people say how great some of these are now, because in a few years Dikembe’s going to surpass them all,” Thompson said of the 1991 draft picks.
Mutombo wasted no time propelling to stardom, ending his rookie season as an All-Star and runner-up in rookie of the year sweepstakes. Mutombo became known for wagging his right index finger at opponents, teasing them after blocking their shots.
Over his long NBA career, including stretches with the Atlanta Hawks, Philadelphia 76ers, New Jersey Nets, New York Knicks and Houston Rockets, Mutombo racked up four defensive player of the year awards to go with over 11,000 points, 12,000 rebounds and 3,000 blocks.
Throughout his career and after, Mutombo was a tireless advocate for his home country, spearheading multiple charity initiatives to support education and healthcare in the Congo. Mutombo founded the Dikembe Mutombo Foundation in 1997 and helped fund the construction of a general hospital in Kinshasa, established a primary school focused on science and entrepreneurship and championed children’s issues with UNICEF and Special Olympics International, serving on the boards of both organizations. Mutombo founded Mutombo Coffee in 2021, which aims to work mostly with female farmers in the Congo and other African countries to close the gender gap in the coffee industry.
“The health and the development of a country are closely linked to the health of its people,” Mutombo said in a speech at Georgetown in 2001. “Education is so important to good health.”
The NBA named Mutombo its first global ambassador in 2009. Mutombo worked with the NBA on international outreach efforts including Basketball Without Borders, a program that provides basketball instruction in 33 countries.
Mutombo was inducted into the NBA Hall of Fame in 2015 for his average of 9.8 points and 10.3 rebounds per game in his career.
Mutombo is survived by his wife, Rose, and his seven children, including his son Ryan Mutombo (CAS ’24), who played three seasons on Georgetown’s men’s basketball team, and his daughter, double Hoya Carrie Biamba Mutombo (COL ’19, LAW ’22).
This story is developing and will be updated as more information becomes available.