To most American fans, Dikembe Mutombo will be remembered primarily as a basketball player. That is a legacy he has more than earned, winning four Defensive Player of the Year awards and reaching eight NBA All-Star Games, but it also sells him short by quite a bit. The overwhelming sentiment from the basketball community after news of his death Monday could be boiled down to four words: great player, better person.
The legacy he built on the court is only a small part of his life story. Off of the court, the native of the Democratic Republic of Congo was a legendary philanthropist and ambassador to the game of basketball. In 1997, he began work on opening a $29 million hospital on the outskirts of his hometown in the Congolese capital of Kanshasa. The Biamba Marie Mutombo Hospital ultimately opened in 2006, financed by money Mutombo raised and donated personally. In 2020 his foundation began construction on a school, which would cover pre-K through sixth grade, in the Democratic Republic of Congo. He has won awards for his humanitarianism and citizenship, and will forever be remembered for his charitable efforts.
His efforts in Africa were not exclusively charitable in nature. He was also one of basketball’s great ambassadors there in both an official and unofficial capacity. He served as an official global ambassador for the league, but he was also a mentor and example that virtually every prominent member of the African basketball community cherished. Monday was media day around the NBA, and that gave people an opportunity to remember Mutombo and weigh in all that he accomplished. Nobody did so more eloquently and emotionally than Toronto Raptors president Masai Ujiri, who grew up in Nigeria.
“I’m sorry. It’s a tough one,” Ujiri said through tears. “I have to say, though, that guy, he made us who we are. That guy is a giant. An incredible person. Who are we without Dikembe Mutombo? Not possible. It really is not. I went to Dikembe Mutombo’s hometown with him. I went to his hospital. You have no idea what that guy means to the world.
“I mean, he’s gone. Left us. And to Mutombo’s family, to Mama Rose, to his kids, there’s no words. That guy was the biggest giant that you can ever find, with the biggest heart. I know he’ll rest well and his family will be fine. He did so much, so much for us. For the continent of Africa, for his people. I went to Dikembe Mutombo’s hospital, and in Dikembe Mutombo’s hospital in Kinshasa, you go to that hospital and it doesn’t even smell like a hospital. You don’t understand that I grew up in hospitals. I grew up in hospitals. That’s how much pride this guy had. That’s how much pride he had in doing good for his people. I built a court with him in Mbuji-Mayi, in his village, and spent a lot of time with him there. And what he brought, what he’s brought to youth on the continent, to people in the continent, you cannot even imagine. You cannot even imagine what that guy has done for me in my career. He took me by the wings in Denver and made me grow as a person. And now he’s gone.”
Ujiri went on to tell the story of meeting former South African President Nelson Mandela alongside Mutombo, and the standard he held all those around him to in doing so. You know, I remember I was traveling and I saw Mutombo in Atlanta on the plane and I had just been promoted to director of scouting and I was wearing sweats to travel and he looked at me and he said, ‘Didn’t you just get promoted? Why are you wearing sweats to travel? Dress up.’ I remember we were going to meet Nelson Mandela in South Africa and he came down and a couple players came down and he asked them where they were going. They were wearing sweats, too, and he said, ‘Where are you going?’ They said, ‘We are going to meet Mandela, they have chosen seven of us to go meet with Nelson Mandela.’ And Dikembe said, ‘Well, go back upstairs and dress like you are going to meet Nelson Mandela.’ And that’s what Dikembe meant here to us.”
Players joined Ujiri in offering tributes to Ujiri. 76ers star Joel Embiid, who grew up in Cameroon, highlighted his dual impacts on and off the court. “It’s a sad day, especially for us Africans, and really the whole world, because, you know, other than what he accomplished on the basketball court, I think he was even better off the court,” Embiid said. “He’s one of the guys that I look up to as far as having an impact not just on the court, but off the court. He’s done a lot of great things, did a lot of great things for a lot of people, he was a role model of mine. Like I said, it is a sad day.”
Giannis Antetokounmpo offered similar sentiments, and highlighted the role Mutombo played in his own incredible career. “First of all, I want to wish his family my support, not just from me but from the Bucks organization. Obviously when somebody passes away, it’s very hard for everybody. My relationship with him, whenever I had an opportunity to go to NBA Africa, he was always there talking to me, advising me on how to approach the season or take care of my body. Because he was big on taking care of your body — icing after games, stretching, trying different things like yoga. That was pretty much my relationship with him, but he will always be remembered. May his soul rest in peace. It’s sad to hear. I wish my support to his family and all his loved ones and friends.”
Joakim Noah, a retired NBA center and winner of the 2014 Defensive Player of the Year award (which would later be renamed in Mutombo’s honor), shared his own story on Instagram of what Mutombo’s presence meant for him in a moment of grief.
“A real African Giant. A giant among giants with an even bigger heart.
“Your unexpected story going from a medical student at Georgetown to a hall of fame basketball player inspired me as a young boy in Paris throughout my NBA career and beyond.
“I won Defensive Player of the Year in 2014 a day after I lost my mentor and second father Tyrone Green. The award felt meaningless at that time. But it was your award. I’ll never forget you handing me that trophy. It was the personal individual height of my career and being handed your trophy by you brought perspective back and made me feel the meaning in my life again.
“Spending time with you on the continent and launching the BAL the last few years was one of the most important things I’ve ever done and was so humbled to share these moments in Africa with you. You inspire generations and generations of young Africans and that will be your ultimate legacy.
“Rest in Peace Tonton.”
The NBA community obviously delivered its share of tributes, but perhaps the most significant came from his own family. His son Ryan wrote a touching goodbye to his father on Instagram that perfectly distills what he meant to so many people.
“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.
“At times, I thought of my dad a super-human. The child in me would sigh to hear that this was never actually the case. My dad was a regular man who would stop at no lengths to honor the world, its people, and its creator. He loved others with every ounce of his being. That’s what made him so accessible. That’s what made him real.
“Dikembe Mutombo was salt and slight, and today, on the 30th of September, 2024, he has been called to rest.
“I love you, Dad. Rest easy.”
The love for Mutombo will surely continue to pour in as the hours and days pass. There are few basketball figures more widely beloved among their peers, yet as virtually all of them have made clear, his impact in the world extended far beyond the game that he loved.
