Dikembe Mutombo Mpolondo Mukamba Jean-Jacques Wamutombo

Dikembe Mutombo (1966–2024) was a giant on the basketball court and a saint of humanitarian service off it. Arriving at Georgetown University from the Democratic Republic of the Congo on an academic USAID scholarship intending to become a physician, the 7-foot-2 center was convinced by coach John Thompson to try basketball.

Drafted by the Denver Nuggets in 1991, Mutombo became one of the greatest defensive centers in NBA history. Renowned for his signature index-finger wag after blocking shots, he led the NBA in blocks for five consecutive seasons, won NBA Defensive Player of the Year four times, and ranks second all-time in league history with 3,289 blocked shots.

Mutombo gave tens of millions of dollars of his personal fortune to humanitarian causes. In 2007, he opened the $29 million, 300-bed Biamba Marie Mutombo Hospital in his native Kinshasa, named after his late mother, treating over half a million patients. An NBA Global Ambassador and Special Olympics director, he exemplified the power of sport in service of human dignity.