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NBA Basketball | Mutombo Announces Retirement After Knee Injury
Mutombo played for legendary Georgetown Hoyas coach John Thompson and then embarked on his NBA career with the Denver Nuggets. He also played for Atlanta, Philadelphia, New Jersey and New York. The native of the Democratic Republic of Congo (formerly Zaire) was an eight-time all-star and leaves the game second all-time on the NBA's career blocks list with 3,289. Despite his age, he proved to be a valuable member of the Rockets this season as a back-up to China national team center Yao Ming. In the opening game of Houston's first-round play-off series against Portland, Mutombo had nine rebounds in 18 minutes. The 7 ft 2 in (2.18 m), 260-pound (120 kg; 19 st) center is generally regarded as one of the greatest shot blockers and defensive players of all time, winning the NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award four times. On January 10, 2007, he surpassed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as the second most prolific shot blocker in NBA history, behind only Hakeem Olajuwon. He is a member of the Luba ethnic group and speaks English, French, Spanish, Portuguese and five African languages.[2] In the second game of the first round of the 2009 NBA playoffs, Mutombo suffered a knee injury that would keep him out for the remainder of the post-season. Soon after the injury, Mutombo claimed he had played his last games in the NBA. Mutombo also achieved a certain level of on-court notoriety. After a successful block, he was known for taunting his opponents by waving his index finger, like a parent would reproach a disobedient child. Later in his career NBA officials would respond to the gesture with a technical foul for unsportsmanlike conduct. To avoid the technical foul, Mutombo took to waving his finger at the crowd after a block, which is not considered taunting by rules.[11] In addition, his flailing elbows are known for injuring several NBA players, including Michael Jordan, Dennis Rodman, Charles Barkley, Patrick Ewing, Chauncey Billups, Ray Allen, Yao Ming, LeBron James and Tracy McGrady. His
involvement with Basketball Without Borders, a joint initiative
run by FIBA and the NBA, and the Dikembe Mutombo Foundation, is
what many people will remember most about the man. The charitable
organization was created in 1997 to improve the health, education
and quality of life for people in his homeland of Kinshasa, the
capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo. The focal point of
his foundation has been the construction and opening of the Biamba
Marie Mutombo Hospital and Research Center, a $29 million, 300-bed
hospital in Kinshasa named after his late mother that held its formal
dedication ceremony in 2007. He donated $15million to build the
hospital. Mutombo is married and has six children - four of them
adopted.
Info: FIBA Basketball |
The
long NBA career of Houston center Dikembe Mutombo Mpolondo Mukamba
Jean-Jacques Wamutombo, commonly referred to as Dikembe MutomboDikembe
Mutombo came to an end on Tuesday, 21st April, 2009 night when the
African suffered a knee injury in the Rockets' 107-103 play-off
defeat to Portland. The June 25, 1966 born 42-year-old Mutombo,
known in equal measure for his shot-blocking skills on the court
and his charitable works off it, crashed to the floor late in the
first quarter and was stretchered off with a knee strain. "Nobody
ever thought they'd be carrying the big guy out like a wounded soldier,"
he said, before announcing he wouldn't be back. "I've had a
wonderful 18 years of staying injury-free, so I just want to go
out with my head up, no regrets."©2004-2009 An Official ALSA™ Product All Rights Reserved No portion of alsabasketball.co.ke may be duplicated, redistributed, or manipulated in any form without authorized permission or acknowledgement of source. the Webmaster | Sponsors|alsaINTERACTIVE® |
