What makes Dikembe Mutombo a Global Shaker?
Dikembe Mutombo is revered as both one of the greatest defensive players in basketball history, whose legendary finger wag “inspired a generation of athletes” — and as a humanitarian whose activism has transformed lives in some of the most deprived places on earth.
Born in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) as one of 10, he moved to the US in 1987 at the age of 21 with a scholarship to Georgetown University. Despite a plan to become a doctor, he was recruited by the university’s basketball coach and the rest is history.
In a career from 1991 to 2009, beginning with the Denver Nuggets and playing for teams as storied as the Philadelphia 76ers, the New York Knicks and the Houston Rockets, Mutombo won the NBA Defensive Player of the Year award four times and was an All-Star eight times. He blocked dunks from Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan. He entered the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2015, six years after retiring.
In 1997, he set up the Dikembe Mutombo Foundation to improve lives in the DRC. Over a 10-year period the foundation planned and financed — with an $18.5m personal donation — a 300-bed hospital on the outskirts of Kinhasa, the DRC capital. It was the first modern medical facility built for four decades in the area. He’s won numerous humanitarian awards, including the Goodermote Humanitarian Award from the John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health for efforts “to reduce polio globally as well as his work improving the health of neglected and underserved populations in the Democratic Republic of Congo.”
Mutombo has also combined his love for sport and social inclusion. He participated in efforts like the Basketball Without Borders programme by the NBA, in which top NBA stars toured Africa and helped improve infrastructure. Mutombo is also a Global Ambassador and member of the International Board of Directors for the Special Olympics. Similarly, he was a pioneer of Unified Sports, which brings people who do and don’t have intellectual disabilities together to play, and was a SportsUnited envoy for the US State Department, travelling to South Sudan to lead basketball clinics with 50 young people.
Mutombo is also a much loved figure in the US, appearing to do celebrity impressions on the Jimmy Kimmel show, and joking about his relationship with all-time great Michael Jordan.
Tags: Africa, Basketball, Democratic Republic of Congo, NBALast updated: May 25, 2020
Next Profile
Social
Vedad Ibišević, Football Star in Germany, Donates Entire Salary To Charity
Lifestyle & Culture
Desserto: The Mexican Startup Making Vegan Leather From Cactus
Lifestyle & Culture
Freedrum 2: Invisible Drum Kit Lets You Practice Anytime, Anywhere
Theo Von
Randall Carlson
The Randall Carlson…
Graham Hancock
Jasmine Linington
Flower Ezekiel Msuya
University of Dar es…
Jacqueline Ngo Mpii
Little Africa
Chelsea Fawn Briganti
Loliware
Luisa Kahlfeldt
Sumo Diaper
Johanan Dujon
Algas Organics
Ava DuVernay
Array
Pearl Thusi
Sho Madjozi
Singer/Songwriter
Pascal Siakam
Toronto Raptors
Niyi Akinmolayan
Anthill Productions
Gracia Bampile
Haute Afrika
Duro Olowu
Duro Olowu
Sherri Silver
SherriSilver.com
Ricky Rapa Thomson
Safe Boda
Issam Darui (عصام دروي)
Lagare.ma
Wojciech Modest Amaro
Atelier Amaro
Cedric Grolet
Le Meurice Alain…
David Muñoz
DiverXO
José Avillez
Belcanto
Erchen Chang
Bao
Rene Redzepi
Noma
Paul Ivic
TIAN
Björn Frantzén
Frantzen
Martina Puigvert
Les Cols
Elena Shramko
Academy of Culinary…
Joel Morris
Xcademy
Jon Jayson
Comedy Crowd TV
Matias Viel
Beeflow
Florence Schechter
Vagina Museum
Courtney Boyd Myers
AKUA
Indya Moore
Beetlefruit Media
Our Lady J
Lana and Lilly Wachowski
Chaz Bono
Nikkie de Jager
Nikkie Tutorials
Cat Cora
Felicity Curin
Little Kitchen…
Gaten Matarazzo
Mona Skisland
EquiConnector
Alex Honnold
Virat Kohli
Katie Ledecky
Team USA
Suzann Petterson
The Ladies…
Tiger Woods
Bianca Andreescu
Siya Kolisi
Stormers
Carolina Marin
Egan Bernal
Team INEOS
Serge Ibaka
Toronto Raptors
Chloe Kim
Team USA
Eliud Kipchoge
NN Running Team
Sun Yang
International…
Simone Biles
Billie Eilish
Megan Rapinoe
Justin Escalona
1340 Collective
Bear D’Egidio
Giant Sportz
Merilee Karr
UnderTheDoormat
Felix Böck
ChopValue
Tim Brown & Joey Zwillinger
Allbirds
Kristy Caylor
For Days
Courtney Holm
A.BCH
Stella McCartney
Stella McCartney
Safia Minney MBE
People Tree
Kresse Wesling MBE
Elvis & Kresse
Carmen Hijosa
Ananas Anam
Adriana Santanocito & Enrica Arena
Orange Fiber
Robert Luo
Mi Terro
Laura Chavez
Lark & Berry
Mike Van Drunen
Bloom Foam
Son Chua & Jesse Tran
Rens
Yael Aflalo
Reformation
Adrian Cuevas
Nomada Studio
Fares Kayali
Vienna University of…
Susanna Pollack
Games for Change
Leonardo DiCaprio
Leonardo DiCaprio…
Lisa Lindström
Doberman
Fredrika Gullfot
Simris Alg
Toni Petersson
Oatly
Randy Rampersad
The Better World…
Laverne Cox
Janet Mock
Angelica Ross
Trans Tech Social…
Edward Enninful
British Vogue
Ben ‘DrLupo’ Lupo
Jon Favreau
Fairview…
Joel Simkhai
Grindr
Donald Glover
Virgilio Martínez
Mil
Yoshihiro Narisawa
Narisawa
Alice Waters
Chez Panisse
Jim Cowie
Captain's Galley
Eneko Atxa
Azurmendi
Bertrand Grébaut
Septime
Christian Puglisi
Relae
Shanaka Fernando
Lentil As Anything
Carly Pifer
Aurore
Victoria Robertson
KFC
Harvey Levin
TMZ
Maria Raga
Depop
David Geffen
Pedro Almodóvar
El Deseo
Bernardo Carreira
DopeKicks
Mati Diop
Francesca Chaney
Sol Sips
Jo Ward
Jo Ward Consulting
Martin Österdahl
Darienne Flemington
ILGA-Europe
Emma Ross
English Institute of…
Jo Ham
Ham
Tobi Kyeremateng
Black Ticket Project
Rachel Shapey
I Can Compose
Jessica Elliott
J's Dance Factory
Ignacio Polanco
Grupo PRISA
Erik Haegerstrand
Bonnier Group
Emilio Azcárraga Jean
Televisa
Javier Goyeneche
Ecoalf
Tristram Stuart
Feedback
James Hubert
StakTek
Chip Forsythe
Rebel Coast Winery
Steve Hershberger
SteadyServ
Cory Rellas
Drizly
William & Lucy Lowe
Cambridge Distillery
Caley Shoemaker
The Hangar 1…
Mardonn Chua
Endless West
Camilla B & Liz B
Collagin
Robert Paterson
ORB Innovations
Nick & Steve Tidball
Vollebak
Ai Weiwei
Ai Weiwei Studio
Mark Britt
Iflix
John Carreyrou
The Wall Street…
Grace Chen
Beijing Aishengsheng…
Zhang Yiming (张一鸣)
ByteDance
Reed Hastings
Netflix
Firmin Zocchetto
PayFit
Anne-Christelle Pérochon
Bim
Jérémy Clédat
Welcome to the…
Fanny Péchiodat
My Little Paris
Mai Li Hammargren
IHM Business School
Markus Persson
Mojang AB
Isabella Löwengrip
Lowengrip AB
Sarah Willingham
Michelle Mone
Ultimo
Denise Coates
bet365
Jacqueline Gold
Ann Summers
Rosie Huntington-Whiteley
Mary Perkins
Specsavers
Deborah Meaden
Martha Lane-Fox
Last Minute
Toni Skinner
Pig's Ear Beer
Sarah Wood
Unruly
Emma Watkinson
SilkFred
Anna Whitehouse
Mother Pukka
Cath Kidston
Cath Kidston
Ben Branson
Seedlip Drinks
Amrita Bharij
Rockstar Games
Jessica Saunders
Salix Games
Keza MacDonald
The Guardian
Elizabeth Sampat
Future Games of…
Amy Hennig
Jade Raymond
Electronic Arts'…
Corrinne Yu
General Motors
Rebecca Heineman
Olde Skuul
David Dimbleby
BBC
AKON
Akon Lighting Africa
Oprah Winfrey
Oprah Winfrey…
Russell Howard
The Russell Howard…
J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter…
Ines Pohl
Deutsche Welles
Mikhail Burchik
Internet Research…
Raheem Kassam
Breitbart UK
Andy Wigmore
Leave Campaign
Lucy Thomas
Edelman
Zanny Minton-Beddoes
The Economist
Lionel Barber
Financial Times
Hugh Whittow
Daily Express
Sir David and Sir Frederick Barclay
The Daily Telegraph
Nick Ferrari
LBC
Jon Snow
Channel 4 News
Jeremy Paxman
Channel 4
Katharine Viner
The Guardian
Paul Staines
Guido Fawkes Blog
Piers Morgan
ITV
Tanit Koch
Bild
James O’ Brien
LBC
Nigel Oakes
SCL Group
Roland Rudd
Finsbury
Tony Gallagher
The Sun
Paul Dacre
Daily Mail
Sadie Morgan
dRMM
Amanda Levete
AL_A
Momoyo Kaijima
Atelier Bow-Wow
Asif Khan
Asif Khan
Ippolito Pestellini Laparelli
Office for…
Shohei Shigematsu (重松象平)
Office for…
Ma Yansong (马岩松)
MAD Architects
Thomas Heatherwick
Heatherwick Studio
Alejandro Aravena
Elemental S.A.
Bjarke Ingels
Bjarke Ingels Group
Floriana Gavriel & Rachel Mansur
Mansur Graviel
Virgil Abloh
Off-White
David Fischer
Highsnobiety
Erik Torstensson & Jens Grede
Saturday Group
Karla Otto
Karla Otto PR
Melvin Chua
Ink Pak…
Mathias Augustyniak & Michael…
M/M Paris
Ben Gorham
Byredo
Joerg Koch
O32C
Imran Amed
Business of Fashion
Sophia
Hanson Robotics
David Benigson
Signal Media
Amber Atherton
Zyper
Tunde Kelani
Mainframe Pictures
Tim Worner
Seven West Media
Christophe Deloire
Reporters Without…
Michael Bloomberg
Bloomberg
Steven Pinker
Harvard University
Larry Solov
Breitbart News
Daniel Ek
Spotify
Emma Coats
Google Assistant
Reginald Mengi
IPP Group
Nduka Obaigbena
Leaders and Company…
Andrew Bonamour
Tiso Blackstar Group
Koos Bekker
Naspers
Alexey Nikolov
RT
Junie Del Mundo
EON
Nick Bostrom
Future of Humanity…
David Thomson
Thomson Reuters
Indu Jain
The Times Group
Dame Carolyn McCall
ITV
Jeremy Darroch
Sky Plc
Mathias Döpfner
Axel Springer
Pier Silvio Berlusconi
Mediaset
Masataka Watanabe
Asahi Shimbun
Roberto Irineu Marinho
Grupo Globo
Jamal Daniel
Al-Monitor
Ghassan bin Jiddo (غسان بن جدو)
Al Mayadeen
Hamad bin Thamer Al Thani (حمد بن…
Al Jazeera Media…
Arnaud de Puyfontaine
Vivendi
Thomas Rabe
Bertelsmann
Fan Luyuan
Alibaba Pictures
Ma Huateng (马化腾)
Tencent Holdings
Shane Smith
VICE Media
Shen Haixiong (慎海雄)
China Media Group
Shah Rukh Khan
Red Chillies…
Rupert Murdoch
News Corporation
Brian Roberts
Comcast
Iain Banks
Simon and Schuster
Al Gore
The Climate Reality…
Aliaume Thiam (Akon)
Akon Lighting Africa
Makaela Richardson
Free the Fresher
Tommy Williams
All Shades Covered
Nick Hounsfield
The Wave
Ed Sheeran
Joe Blackman
Collection 26
Adele Adkins
Adele
Will Jarvis
The Sunday Painter
Jamal Edwards
SBTV
Jusnah Gadi
Young Music Boss
Matt Jones
Songkick
Luke Massie
Vibe Tickets
Nick Coleman
Snaffling Pig
Henry Patterson
Not Before Tea
Ella Mills
Deliciously Ella
Charlie Lee-Cook
MOJU Drinks
James Watt
BrewDog
Gem Misa
Full Green
Cassandra Stavrou
Propercorn
Paul Joseph
Health and Fitness…
Elliott Perry
Sweat Flex
Jessica Rose
London Jewellery…
Rosie Davies
The London Fashion…
Morgan Dowler
Love Me (And My…
Anna Byrne
Hulafit
Nasir Bin Olu Dara Jones
Queensbridge Venture…
Jenny Griffiths
Snap Fashion
Kieran O’Neill
Thread
Vanessa Warwick
Property Tribes
Robert Small
Miniclip
Jon Reynolds
Swiftkey
Ashton Kutcher
Actor/Investor
Andy Murray
Investor
Chris Skinner
Author
Kate Hofman
GrowUp Urban Farms
Alborz Bozorgi and Ellenor McIntosh
Twipes
Tessa Clarke
Olio
Zoe Robinson
The Good Wardrobe
Adam Routledge
Edible Bug Farm
Ilana Taub
Snact
Caspar Lee
Influencer
Timothy Armoo
FanBytes
Dina Torkia
Dina Tokio
Zoe Sugg
Zoella
Ben Towers
Social Marley
Ben Jeffries
Influencer
Dan Middleton
DanTDM
Alfie Deyes
PointlessBlog
Tanya Burr
Tanya Burr
Dr Sanjay Gupta
CNN
Jenk Oz
iCoolKid
Andreas Antonopoulos
Let's Talk Bitcoin
Laura Shin
Unchained
Dinis Guarda
Ztudium Group
Lily Allen
Musician
Bibop G Gresta
Hyperloop…
Alan Griffin
Global Shakers
Videos
Latest Tweets
Tweets by TwitterDev