For 18 seasons, Mutombo played for six NBA teams, earning four Defensive Player of the Year awards, eight All-Star selections, and the title of second all-time leader in blocked shots.

He founded the Dikembe Mutombo Foundation in 1997 which aimed to improve the overall quality of life for the people in Congo, and helped build a hospital in the capital city of Kinshasa.

In Mutombo, Robinson said, Russell had a worthy heir. “I remember hearing Bill Russell talking over the years and saying, ‘Shoot, these guys block shots, but it goes out of bounds.’ ...

That was how, where and what Dikembe dedicated his life to doing.” When he was 8, Mutombo snuck into the Rumble in the Jungle in Kinshasa to watch Muhammad Ali flatten George Foreman.

Dikembe Mutombo was born on June 25, 1966, in Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the country that was known as Zaire until the late 1990s.

Dikembe Mutombo and Cliff Robinson (Photo by STEVEN R. SCHAEFER/AFP via Getty Images) The former 7-foot-2 center averaged 9.8 points, 10.3 rebounds, and 2.8 blocks in his NBA career.

Dikembe Mutombo’s family issued a statement Thursday thanking the community for their support after his death. The Naismith Basketball Hall of Famer and former Atlanta Hawks star died Monday ...

Dikembe Mutombo, a towering NBA Hall of Famer who was renowned for his defensive dominance and finger-wagging celebrations, has died from brain cancer, the NBA said in a statement on Monday.

Dikembe Mutombo was an African Giant The eight-time NBA All-Star and four-time DPOY, who has passed away at the age of 58, was selfless, powerful, and magnetic on and off the court.

Dikembe Mutombo Mpolondo Mukamba Jean-Jacques Wamutombo was born in Kinshasa, the capital of the DRC, and came to study in the United States in 1987 on an academic scholarship.