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Basketball Hall of Famer Dikembe Mutombo has died astatine the property of 58 aft a conflict with encephalon cancer, the NBA confirmed.
In Memoriam: Fallen Sports Stars of 2024
The sporting assemblage is mourning the nonaccomplishment of a legend.
Basketball Hall of Famer Dikembe Mutombo died Sept. 30 aft a battle with encephalon cancer, the National Basketball Association confirmed successful a statement. He was 58.
“Dikembe Mutombo was simply larger than life,” NBA Commissioner Adam Silver wrote alongside the statement. “On the court, helium was 1 of the top changeable blockers and antiaircraft players successful the past of the NBA. Off the floor, helium poured his bosom and psyche into helping others.”
And connected Mutombo’s relation arsenic the archetypal NBA Global Ambassador, Silver continued of the Congolese native, “He was a humanitarian astatine his core. He loved what the crippled of hoops could bash to marque a affirmative interaction connected communities, particularly successful his autochthonal Democratic Republic of the Congo and crossed the continent of Africa. I had the privilege of traveling the satellite with Dikembe and seeing first-hand however his generosity and compassion uplifted people.”
Silver besides shared his condolences to Mutombo’s woman Rose and their 7 children, whom helium said were by the erstwhile athlete’s broadside erstwhile helium passed, adding, “Dikembe's indomitable tone continues connected successful those who helium helped and inspired passim his bonzer life.”
Throughout his 18 seasons successful the NBA, Mutombo’s quality to artifact shots caused him to beryllium regarded arsenic 1 of the champion antiaircraft players of each time. In fact, astatine the clip of his status successful 2009, he’d blocked 3,289 shots—second lone to Hakeem Olajuwon.
David Sherman/NBAE via Getty Images
On his prowess successful protecting the basket, Mutombo told GQ following his retirement, “I would shingle my caput and archer the people, ‘Man cannot alert successful the location of Mutombo.’ I felt I was a chief, I was the boss, and cipher could travel into the overgarment unless they knocked connected the doorway and asked support to travel in.”
In summation to his enactment connected the court, Mutombo became arsenic regarded for his humanitarian enactment extracurricular the hoops arena.
The lone subordinate to person the NBA’s J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award for assemblage work twice, helium besides served arsenic a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations and was a subordinate of the Special Olympics committee of directors. But overmuch of his enactment was wrong the Democratic Republic of Congo—including the operation of a infirmary successful the superior metropolis of Kinshasa successful 2007, which Congolese ambassador to the United States Faida Mitifu described to USA Today astatine the clip arsenic “a godsend.”
On wherefore helium enactment truthful overmuch of his time, vigor and wealth into his humanitarian work, Mutombo told the New York Times successful 2002, ''I similar to beryllium loved; I similar to emotion others.”
“I americium conscionable a beardown believer that I look astatine the satellite successful 1 mode that we are each enactment connected this satellite to fulfill something,'' helium continued. ''I'm trying to animate the adjacent generation; I deliberation that's wherefore we're here. We each were enactment connected this satellite to hole this spot for the adjacent procreation that comes aft that. How tin we marque definite our grandkids unrecorded successful a amended satellite today?''
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