The NBA world lost an icon on Monday as legendary Hall of Fame center Dikembe Mutombo passed away at the age of 58 due to brain cancer. Mutombo made an impact on many around the world not only with his play on the court, but his philanthropic endeavors off of it. Many members of the Los Angeles Lakers family offered condolences following the announcement and current superstar LeBron James also had many kind words as well.
Of course, James is a real historian of the game of basketball and after offering condolences and well wishes to the Mutombo family, he recalled one of his favorite moments from the center, one that is still one of the most iconic images in NBA history.
“First of all my condolences go to his family. Anytime a loved one is gone, it’s a lot on the family so my condolences and well wishes goes to his family,” LeBron said during Lakers Media Day. “Also goes to the NBA community as well. As a big part of the NBA, when you’re growing up and you think about iconic moments in playoff history, you think about when they played the SuperSonics and they were the eighth seed and you just remember him getting that last rebound, those last blocks and just holding that basketball on his back just in amazement.”
That picture of Mutombo on the ground is still part of every great playoff highlight package and he led the Denver Nuggets to become the first eighth seed to beat a one seed in the playoffs. As for LeBron’s own personal memories with Mutombo, that was a little bit more painful.
“My fondest memory of Dikembe Mutombo, he fractured my face, on my birthday in Cleveland with an elbow,” the Lakers superstar added. “I never even got an opportunity to tell him about that. I was in Cleveland, my first stint, I think I was turning 22 maybe. He was in Houston, you guys can do the research, yep he was in Houston. And I went to the hole and caught one of those Dikembe elbows. And if anybody knows about the Dikembe elbows they do not feel good. He fractured my face and I went to the hospital that night and I wore a mask for a little bit. Yea, so that is my memory of Dikembe.”
Those elbows were known to be dangerous and James found that out firsthand early on in his career. Nonetheless, Mutombo was a true giant both on and off the court and he will be greatly missed around the world.
Lakers legends react to passing of NBA Hall of Famer Dikembe Mutombo
Many others paid respects to Dikembe Mutombo following news of his passing as well.
Lakers legend Magic Johnson called Mutombo an ‘incredible man with a pure heart of gold’ while Pau Gasol also praised him for his accomplishments on and off the court. Metta World Peace, who was a teammate of Mutombo’s in his final season with the Houston Rockets, also offered condolences to his family.
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