Dikembe Mutombo Mpolondo Mukamba Jean-Jacques Wamutombo, commonly referred to as Dikembe Mutombo, is a Congolese American retired professional basketball player who last played for the Houston Rockets of the NBA. Outside basketball, he has become known for his humanitarian work. The 7 ft 2 in, 260-pound center who began his career with the Georgetown Hoyas is commonly referred to as one of the greatest shot blockers and defensive players of all time, winning the NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award four times; he was also an eight-time All-Star. On January 10, 2007, he surpassed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as the league's second most prolific shot blocker, in terms of career blocked shots, in NBA history, behind only Hakeem Olajuwon. In the second game of the first round of the 2009 NBA playoffs, Mutombo suffered a knee injury that kept him out for the remainder of the postseason. Soon after the injury, Mutombo announced he had played his last game in the NBA. 

June 25th, 1966 in Kinshasa  /  Died:   Sep 30th, 2024 - aged 58, cancer