Former Knicks’ Dikembe Mutombo Dies at 58

Per Shams Charania of The Athletic, former New York Knicks center Dikembe Mutombo has passed away at the age of 58 after a bout with brain cancer.

Mutombo, inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2015, spent one year of an 18-season NBA journey with the Knicks, pulling in 6.7 rebounds a game at age 37 during the 2003-04 season. In New York, Mutombo is perhaps best remembered for a vintage performance against the rival New Jersey Nets (where Mutombo had spent the prior season), where he earned 10 blocks, the last double-figure rejection game of his lauded career.

The Congolese-born Mutombo originally entered the league as the fourth overall pick of the 1991 draft, chosen by the Denver Nuggets after a strong career at Georgetown on a USAID scholarship. It didn’t take long for Mutombo to establish himself as one of the Association’s most prominent defensive and rebounding threats: such abilities, as well as his 7-2, 260-lb. frame, earned him the nickname “Mount Mutombo,” which stuck through his tenures in Denver, Atlanta, Philadelphia, New Jersey, New York, and Houston.

Mutombo went on to win a record four Defensive Player of the Year titles, a mark since tied by Rudy Gobert and Ben Wallace. The eight-time All-Star also led the league in blocks per game in three consecutive seasons (1994-96) and rebounds twice (2000-01). Despite retiring in 2009, Mutombo still holds second place on the Association’s all-time blocks list at 3,289, behind only Hakeem Olajuwon.

Though denied an NBA championship ring, Mutombo partook in NBA history during the 1994 postseason when he guided the Nuggets to a five-game upset win over the top-seeded Seattle SuperSonics in the opening round. With the win, Denver became the first eighth-seed to win a playoff series. The image of Mutombo euphorically holding the ball over his head in the aftermath of Game 5 remains one of the most enduring glimpses of NBA playoff history.

In addtion to his on-court prowess, Mutombo was also extraordinarily well-regarded for his humanitarian work that made a difference in his native Africa and beyond. To date, Mutombo is the only two-time winner of the NBA’s J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award, which recognizes “outstanding service and dedication to the community.”

Mutombo is survived by his wife Rose and their three children.

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