As the NBA’s senior citizen, 41-year-old Houston Rocket’s center Dikembe Mutombo seems to be sipping from the fountain of youth. Pressed into action with the season-ending injury of starting center Yao Ming, Mutombo has played a key role in the Rocket’s franchise record 18 game (as of this writing) win streak. Now in his 16th year with the league, his playing time had been on the decline—that of a support player.
But with Ming’s early departure, the Rocket’s have had the four-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year and league-leading rebounder back on the roster, grabbing rebounds, scoring points, and blocking shots.
The contributions of the 7 foot 2 inch native of Zaire reach far beyond the confines of the NBA. The Georgetown University graduate has forged a legacy of community service in the United States and Africa. He created the Dikembe Mutombo foundation in 1997 to improve the health, education, and quality of life for people in Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo. The vision of this foundation has been the construction and opening of the Biamba Marie Mutombo Hospital and Research Center, a 300-bed hospital in Kinshasa named after his late mother. He donated $15 million of his own money to help build the hospital.
He also donated $150,000 to help underprivileged children in South Africa. He participates in the NBA’s Basketball without Borders program as well as the NBA and UNICEF “United for Children, Unite against AIDS” campaign. He paid for uniforms and expenses for the Zaire women's basketball team during the 1996 Centennial Olympic Games in Atlanta.
For his outstanding humanitarianism, he was acknowledged by President Bush during the State of the Union Address on Jan 23, 2007, applauded for his work done in support of African causes. Mutombo received the President’s Service Award in 1999 and the NBA’s J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award in 2001.
He was named one of the “Good Guys in Sports” by The Sporting News, and identified in 2005 by FOXSports.com as the most generous professional athlete, ranking him first over Lance Armstrong and Tiger Woods. He was also inducted into the World Sports Humanitarian Hall of Fame on June 20, 2007.
But it’s not recognition that motivates Mutombo.
“What you quickly learn about Dikembe Mutombo is that he is not a sports celebrity doing a little charity work,” said Christopher A. Crane, president and CEO of Opportunity International. “This is a man of deep commitment to the poor who puts his own time, energy and significant amounts of money into projects like his hospital.”
He did not come to the United States to play basketball, but came to Georgetown University on an academic scholarship with the dream of becoming a medical doctor and returning to the Congo to practice medicine. In his second year at Georgetown, Coach John Thompson invited Mutombo to try out for the basketball team. After joining, Mutombo re-directed his academic ambitions, graduating from Georgetown with dual degrees in linguistics and diplomacy. He is fluent in nine languages.
His legacies of service (and his frame) are not the only lengthy things about Mutombo. His full name is Dikembe Mutombo Mpolondo Mukamba Jean Jacque Wamutombo. He and wife Rose have six children. His size 22 shoes, the largest in the NBA, will be hard to fill . . . on and off the court.
For an in-depth look at this philanthropic giant and the charitable work of the Dikembe Mutombo Foundation, visit http://www.dmf.org/index.php.
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