Basketball Hall of Famer Dikembe Mutombo, whose towering presence dominated basketball on and off the court, has died of brain cancer at age 58.
“Dikembe Mutombo was simply larger than life,” NBA commissioner Adam Silver said in a statement Monday. “On the court, he was one of the greatest shot-blockers and defensive players in NBA history. Off the floor, he poured his heart and soul into helping others.”
Aided by his 7ft 2in frame, Mutombo finished his career second on the NBA’s all-time list for blocked shots. He was also an eight-time All-Star and four-time defensive player of the year in an 18-season NBA career that spanned from 1991 to 2009. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2015, and his number was retired by two of his teams, the Atlanta Hawks and the Denver Nuggets. He also played for the Houston Rockets, Philadelphia 76ers, New York Knicks and the then New Jersey Nets.
Mutombo was also known for his humanitarian work, particularly with the Special Olympics and in his birthplace of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where his Dikembe Mutombo Foundation focused on improving health and quality of life in the country. He served on a number of boards, including Special Olympics International, the CDC Foundation and the National Board for the United States Fund for Unicef, where he was able to use the seven languages he spoke.
“There was no one more qualified than Dikembe to serve as the NBA’s first Global Ambassador. He was a humanitarian at his core,” Silver said. “He loved what the game of basketball could do to have a positive impact on communities, especially in his native Democratic Republic of the Congo and across the continent of Africa. I had the privilege of traveling the world with Dikembe and seeing firsthand how his generosity and compassion lifted people up. He was always approachable at NBA events over the years – with his infectious smile, deep booming voice and signature finger wag that endeared him to basketball fans of every generation.”
He had three children with his wife, Rose, and the couple adopted four more children.
