The finger wag. The enormous smile. The unmistakable voice. Dikembe Mutombo played defense at a level and with a flair that few others in basketball history ever possessed, all among the many reasons why he’s immortalized in the Hall of Fame.

But when Mutombo died of brain cancer on Monday at 58, most who knew him or knew of him paid primary tribute to his humanitarian work, particularly in his native Democratic Republic of the Congo, and his efforts to promote the sport across the globe. He was a towering man of towering achievements.