Isaac
Years ago
Dikembe Mutombo bows out after injury
Dikembe Mutombo Mpolondo Mukamba Jean-Jacques Wamutombo has said he will not play again.
Dikembe Mutomo's legacy will be that he was one of the great NBA defensive players of all-time, an amazing shot-blocker, a winner in every sense of the word. Yet his career is so much more than that.More at Sports Justice
He was an amazingly good citizen of the world. He had a charitable heart and devoted countless hours and dollars to the causes he believed in. He's a role model for every future player.
His 18-year NBA career ended Tuesday night with a gruesome knee injury midway through his 1,297th game. He left the floor on a stretcher after every single teammate had surrounded him on the floor.
That gesture spoke volumes about what they thought of him. He's the funniest, smartest professional athlete you will ever meet.
A few months ago, I was checking an NBA box score and stopped short - he's still playing?! Mutombo is due to turn 43 in a couple of months and was still providing serviceable minutes to Houston, even in the play-offs.
I remember even having a Mutombo t-shirt when I was younger. Did Olajuwon and Ewing ever have merchandise like that?
As a paltry little tribute, here's a re-run (for those who haven't seen it) of Rockets players doing impressions of Dikembe:
Cue finger-waggle stories...
