We will no longer see him move his index finger from right to left, as if to tell us “no, no, no” in his deep voice. Former Congolese basketball player Dikembe Mutombo died on Monday, September 30, in Atlanta (Georgia, United States), due to a brain tumor. He was 58 years old. He “it was out of the ordinary”Adam Silver, the commissioner of the NBA – the North American professional league – paid tribute to him, of which he was one of the figures.
Born in Kinshasa, where he grew up with his nine siblings, Dikembe Mutombo Mpolondo Mukamba Jean-Jacques wa Mutombo, his full name, left Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo) in 1987, at the age of 21, for the United States. The United States, although it does not speak a word of English, a language that it will soon dominate, like eight other languages. Then he dreamed of becoming a doctor. Basketball came into his life a bit by chance. Barely having landed at Georgetown University (Washington, DC.) thanks to a scholarship, the 2.18-meter boy caught the attention of local coach, John Thompson. Mutombo must make a decision: “I remember being very disappointed. I thought I could do both.he told the Washington Post in 1991, but they told me it was impossible… Maybe one day I will be a doctor, after basketball. »
In 1991 he entered the NBA, selected fourth by Denver, becoming one of the first African players to step onto the courts of the major leagues. There he spent eighteen seasons in total, on six teams. Since then, two of them, the Atlanta Hawks and the Denver Nuggets, have decided to honor him by retiring his jersey. He was elected to the Hall of Fame, basketball’s pantheon, in 2015.
Four times best defender
Although he has never won a title, he participated in two finals, in 2001 and 2003, and has multiplied individual awards. Selected eight times among the All-Star (annual match between the best players of the Eastern and Western Conferences of the NBA), he was crowned the best defender of the season four times, a record he shares with the American Ben Wallace and the Frenchman. Rudy Gobert. We remember in particular his blocks – he remains the second best blocker in NBA history with 3,289 units – and that index finger he shook to tell his opponents that it was not going to be possible to score.
“He was perhaps the best defender in NBA history with [l’Américain] Bill Russell »believes George Eddy. NBA commentator since 1985, he is remembered for World of a player who “intimidated opposing attackers with his counterattacks and size” to the point of turning it into an art. From a man who also played with the public: “He had a big smile and that finger to say “not at my house, not tonight”… All that remains in the collective memory. »
You have 45.01% of this article left to read. The rest is reserved for subscribers.
