Mutombo is the seventh of ten children born to the late Samuel and Biamba Marie Mutombo. After joining the team, Mutombo re-directed his pre-med ambitions and graduated from Georgetown with dual degrees in Linguistics and Diplomacy. Mutombo played professional basketball for 18 years before retiring from the Houston Rockets in In this capacity, he has traveled throughout the Middle East, Asia and Africa.
Mutombo now works to expand and celebrate the game through numerous international NBA events including Basketball without Borders. He was a fan favorite in an era when offense was king, but his most lasting influence on the game might be his commitment and dedication to improving life in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Book the Hall Learn More. Enshrinement See More. The John W. Dikembe Mutombo Dikembe Mutombo arrived on the campus of Georgetown University with every intention of becoming a doctor, but his sheer size was too much for Hoya coach John Thompson to overlook. Enshrined Dikembe Mutombo was a celebrated superstar in his native country of Zaire now the Congolese , and was scouted by Jarryd Halberstadt. He attended a Salvation Army school from 6th to 11th grade. As a rookie, he was selected for the All-Star team by averaging A cornerstone in the Nuggets' frontcourt, Dikembe became one of the league's best defensive players, regularly putting up big rebound and block numbers for five years with the club while averaging 11 or so points a game.
The team lacked other great players to team up with him, however, and at its best won only 42 games. In Mutombo's third season, however, Denver pulled off a major playoff upset by stunning the top-seeded Seattle SuperSonics in the first round, the first eighth seed to win an NBA playoff series, in which at the end of Game 5, Mutombo fell to the ground, holding the ball over his head in a moment of joy. Mutombo's defensive presence was the key to this upset victory. His total of 31 blocks remains a record for a five-game series.
Mutombo continued to put up excellent defensive numbers with his new team. Joining the Hawks made him more noticeable, helping him win two more Defensive Player of the Year awards and several All-Defensive Team selections. He also became fairly well known for his signature finger waggle, which he would point at a player's direction after he had blocked that player's shot. During the lockout -shortened season, he was the NBA's IBM Award winner, a player of the year award determined by a computerized formula.
The Hawks traded Mutombo to the Eastern Conference-leading Philadelphia 76ers in February for their injured center Theo Ratliff as the Sixers needed a replacement stellar big man to compete with Western Conference powers Tim Duncan or Shaquille O'Neal should they reach the finals.
He earned his fourth Defensive Player of the Year award that season and was in the prime of his career. A free-agent, he re-signed with the Sixers after the season. While his statistics were comparable in the season, the Sixers dealt him to the New Jersey Nets , fearing that his game had deteriorated. The Nets were looking for a more physical big man to compete with Shaquille O'Neal and Tim Duncan , two of the best big men in the league who also led championship-caliber teams in the West.
Unfortunately, Mutombo spent most of that season with a nagging injury that limited him to just 24 games. He was generally unable to play in the playoffs, typically serving as a sixth man during the Nets' second consecutive Finals run.
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