How many players will have their number retired by two franchises?
Dikembe Mutombo is half way there. On Tuesday night his 55 jersey was retired by the Atlanta Hawks. There are plans in the works to eventually have his jersey retired by the Denver Nuggets. Yet truly transcendent players impact the entire game not just the franchise and locale where they play. Such is the case for Dikembe Mutombo Mpolondo Mukamba Jean-Jacques Wamutombo. Or ‘Deke’ to his close friends.
He was already inducted in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame last September. Quite the praise for a man who was not fond of the sport, “I hated basketball,” says Mutombo. “My brother wouldn’t stop bothering me to play basketball. I didn’t want anything to do with it. Finally I did, so he would leave me alone and I fell in love with the game”.
The 7-foot-2 defensive stalwart made fans love defense as he made the blocked shot cool with his patented finger wag. It became the NBA’s equivalent of the end zone celebration or the bat flip, copied by kids on playgrounds and gyms. Mutombo unapologetically explains, “I felt like I wasn’t getting the respect I deserve,” he says. “I am here doing good work and people aren’t mentioning my name. So I did it as a way that people would remember me. Not just media or fans but players. I wanted them to think twice before challenging me. Thankfully they didn’t and I continued to get blocks”.
Outside of Dennis Rodman and rebounding their may not be any one single player not solely for a singular skill, “The lord gave me the gift of blocking the shot and the fact great players challenged me made people eventually see me as great also”.
The great Mutombo joins the Hawks short list of retired numbers alongside Bob Pettit, Lou Hudson and Dominique Wilkins. Mutombo actually played more games and blocked more shots as a member of the Denver Nuggets, making his induction to the rafters in the Mile High City inevitable. Denver who drafted him fourth overall in 1991 was his first home. Yet he retired in 2009 as a member of the Houston Rockets and is still revered in H-town as the first mentor to Yao Ming and the contingent that helped convince Dwight Howard to sign with the Rockets.
“I feel close to Atlanta because I live there and Denver because I started there but to be honest I feel like I played for the NBA crest. That logo of the great Jerry West. I have so many teams I watch and cheer for. I’m a fan of the league.”
Mutombo, the 49-year-old product of Congo, enjoyed his best years in Atlanta, capturing two of his four NBA Defensive Player of the Year awards as the Hawks were one of the perennial title contenders in the East. Atlanta remains his home to this day. Mutombo is still the second-leading shot blocker in NBA history behind Hakeem Olajuwon, who he credits with paving the way for him. “We sit at the feet of greatness coming after Olajuwon. He opened the door for all of us to come through. It was my job when I played not just to walk through that door but pull others through. Now it is my hope that the African born players now will one day sit on top of the mantle with myself and Olajuwon.
Mutombo is now working for the league, as it’s Global Ambassador. Recently in Toronto to promote the league’s tour across 14 Canadian cities and 10 provinces leading up to the first international all-star game in Toronto, Mutombo was impressed with the state of basketball in Canada, “It is great and it is just the beginning. We are going to see at all-star when people come from all over the globe. Toronto is one of the most multicultural countries in the world. You see all the great players coming out of Canada, it is important for the league that this market not city but country keeps getting stronger. I’m excited to be part of all the All-star game festivities”.
Mutombo who travels bring him to the greater Toronto area often even when not on league business to visit family members, is invested in the Toronto franchise, “As someone who is an international player to see so many international players on the team, international faces in the crowd and my good friend Masai as an international born GM representing my continent. Yes, I am a part of “We the North” also. I root for you hard. Watching a guy like Biyombo, seeing the intense defense. It validates the gains I made in my career”.
Part of those gains are his extensive philanthropic work was that made him President George Bush’s personal guest at the state of the union address in 2007. The other part is his work with “Basketball Without Borders” in the offseason to help grow the game.
Over the course of his 18-year career that spanned so long he was teammate of 1978 Rookie of the Year Walter Davis and faced 2008 Rookie of the Year Kevin Durant, Dikembe has seen the NBA transform. “I’ve seen so much in this NBA game. Seen it grow. The biggest difference now is the game is global. I can go to any country in the world and see a NBA logo, see a hoop and a ball. Everywhere it is realistic to have the dream to one-day play in the NBA. I love that because I love to spread love. I’ve gotten so much love from people in the game. I’m happy people all around the world can have that chance also,” Mutombo says with his trademark smile.
Mutombo once known for blocking opportunities on the court is now known for creating opportunities off of it.