Dikembe Mutombo

Dikembe Mutombo Mpolondo Mukamba Jean-Jacques Wamutombo (born June 25, 1966) is a Congolese-American former professional basketball player. Mutombo played 18 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Outside of basketball, he is well known for his humanitarian work. A , center, Mutombo moved to the United States from the Democratic Republic of the Congo at age 21 to play college basketball for the Georgetown Hoyas. In 1991, the Denver Nuggets chose Mutombo with the fourth overall pick of the NBA draft. During his NBA career, he played for six teams. Mutombo played in the NBA Finals for the Philadelphia 76ers in 2001 and for the New Jersey Nets in 2003. Mutombo is commonly regarded as one of the best shot-blockers and defensive players of all time; he received the NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award four times. Mutombo led the NBA in blocked shots three times, led the league in rebounds twice, and was named to eight All-Star teams. On January 10, 2007, Mutombo reached second place on the list of NBA career leaders in blocked shots. At the conclusion of the 2009 NBA playoffs, Mutombo announced his retirement. His number 55 jersey has been retired by both the Denver Nuggets and the Atlanta Hawks. Mutombo was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame on September 11, 2015. Early life Dikembe Mutombo Mpolondo Mukamba Jean-Jacques Wamutombo was born on June 25, 1966, in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo as one of 10 children of Samuel and Biamba Marie Mutombo. His father worked as a school principal and then in Congo's department of education. Mutombo speaks English, French, Spanish, Portuguese and five Central African languages, including Lingala and Tshiluba. He is a member of the Luba ethnic group. For high school, Mutombo went to Boboto College in Kinshasa to lay the groundwork for his medical career as the classes were more challenging there. He played football and participated in martial arts. At around age 16, Mutombo decided to also work on his basketball career at the encouragement of his father and brother due to his height. He moved to the United States in 1987 at the age of 21 to enroll in college.