Former Congolese-American basketball superstar Dikembe Mutombo is suffering from a brain tumor, NBA announced on Saturday.
“Dikembe Mutombo is currently undergoing treatment for a brain tumor,” the NBA said in a statement issued on behalf of Mutombo’s family.
“He is receiving the best care possible from a collaborative team of specialists in Atlanta and is in great spirits as he begins treatment,” the statement said.
Mutombo, 56, a native of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, has served as a Global Ambassador for the National Basketball Association for many years. In 2009, he became the first individual to receive the honor.
Mutombo played center for six teams during the course of his lengthy career, including the New Jersey Nets at the time, the Atlanta Hawks, the Philadelphia 76ers, and the Denver Nuggets.
“We know he will approach this challenge with the same determination and grit that have made him a legend on and off the court,” the Atlanta Hawks wrote on Twitter.
Eight-time NBA All-Star Mutombo ranks second in league history for blocked shots with 3,289, only behind Hakeem Olajuwon of Nigeria.
In 1995, 1997, 1998, and 2001, he won the Defensive Player of the Year award four times in the NBA. He is one of just two players in history to accomplish this.
The first significant African basketball stars to break through in the NBA were Mutombo and Olajuwon, who paved the way for others like Gorguy Dieng, Serge Ibaka, and Joel Embiid.
In the first round of the 1991 NBA Draft, the Nuggets selected Mutombo. He later played for Atlanta and Philadelphia. With the Philadelphia 76ers and the New Jersey Nets, he participated in two NBA Finals, both of which they lost. He played 18 seasons in the pros until retiring in 2009.
Mutombo began building a reputation for himself as a humanitarian long before he ended his career as a professional athlete, with an emphasis on his own nation.
He covered the costs of the Zaire women’s national basketball team’s 1996 journey to the Atlanta Olympics, as well as the purchase of their outfits.
He established the Dikembe Mutombo Foundation in 1997 to raise the standard of living in his own nation. His nonprofit has a special emphasis on delivering healthcare and education to children. Mutombo also took up a role as a goodwill ambassador for the UN Development Program.