Dikembe Mutombo brings intimidating
defense and rebounding to this rookie class. He is a consistent all-star
who is becoming a dominant young center. Dikembe is a 8 time all-star,
actually starting the game in 1997 for injured Patrick
Ewing and the fan's choice to start in 1998 and 2002. In 1992 he was the
only rookie on the All-Star Team, and was second to LJ in ROY voting. Not
known for his offensive skills, he does have a good hook, but needs to
develop more inside moves. He was the first Nugget to pull down over
1,000 boards in a season. He gets his triple-doubles the hard
way...points, rebounds and BLOCKS. He became the first player to lead the
NBA in blocks for three consecutive seasons, through 1996 and still
running. In 1994-95 Mutombo was named the NBA Defensive Player of the
Year after leading the league in blocks with an average of 3.9. He was
again named Defensive Player of the year in 1996-97, 1997-98 and
2000-01. After being the top defensive center in the league for several
years, Dikembe slipped to the All-Defensive Second Team in 1999, being
replaced by Alonzo Mourning on the First
Team. He was back on the All Defensive First Team for the year 2001,
though. In 2002, Mutombo was named to the All-Defensive Second Team
Again, as Ben Wallace made the first team and was named Defensive Player
of the Year. In 1998, Dikembe was named to his first
All-NBA Team, the Third team, supplanting long time selections Ewing and
Olajuwon. He was named to the All-NBA Second Team in 2001 and the All-NBA
Third Team in 2002. In the
shortened 1999 season, Dikembe was the winner
of the IBM award for the best player in the NBA based on a
series of statistical categories. Shaq was runner up.
Mutombo was
born in Kinshasa, Zaire
under the full name Dikembe Mutombo Mpolondo Mukamba Jean Jacque Wamutombo
and can speak English, French, Spanish, Portugese and five African
dialects. He came to Georgetown to join a long line of dominating centers
led by Ewing and Mourning. Mutombo didn't perform stellarly in college,
only being named to the third team All-American squad in 1991 (NABC). He
was signed by the Atlanta Hawks as a free agent in July 1996 to a 5 year
deal for better than 57 million dollars. He is a more integral part of
the Hawks offense than in Denver, but still primarily known for his
defensive intimidation. Although, 1997-98 saw him adding an offensive
game. Dikembe is a genuine good guy, helping out many causes. T0
be rewarded for his efforts, in 2000 Dikembe will be 1 of 20 people to
receive the President's
Service Award, the USA's highest honor for volunteer service. He was
named to the All-Interview Second Team in 2001, his first selection to
an All-Interview Team. On February 22, 2001, just before the trading
deadline, Atlanta traded Dikembe Mutombo and Roshown McLeod to
Philadelphia for Theo Ratliff, Toni Kukoc, Nazr Mohammed, and Pepe
Sanchez. On July 19, 2001 Philadelphia re-signed Dikembe Mutombo to a 4
year, $65 million contract. On August 6, 2002 Philadelphia traded Dikembe
Mutombo to New Jersey for Keith Van
Horn and Todd MacCulloch. After not really using him for the 2002-2003 season, New Jersey reached a buyout agreement with Dikembe Mutombo, making him
a free agent. The buyout is reportedly worth $30 million. On October 9. 2003 New York signed Dikembe Mutombo to a 2 year, $8.5 million contract. On August 5, 2004, Chicago traded Jamal Crawford and Jerome Williams to New York for Othella Harrington, Dikembe Mutombo, Cezary
Trybanski, and Frank Williams. On September 8, 2004, Chicago traded Dikembe Mutombo to Houston for Eric Piatkowski and Adrian Griffin. On August 26, 2005 Houston re-signed him to a two year deal.
| PPG | RPG | APG | BlkPG | |
| College | 9.9 | 8.6 | 0.8 | 3.7 |
| Rookie | 16.6 | 12.2 | 2.2 | 3.0 |
| 1992-93 | 13.8 | 13.0 | 1.8 | 3.5 |
| 1993-94 | 12.0 | 11.8 | 1.5 | 4.1 |
| 1994-95 | 11.5 | 12.5 | 1.4 | 3.9 |
| 1995-96 | 11.0 | 11.8 | 1.5 | 4.5 |
| 1996-97 | 13.3 | 11.6 | 1.4 | 3.3 |
| 1997-98 | 13.4 | 11.4 | 1.0 | 3.4 |
| 1998-99 | 10.8 | 12.2 | 1.1 | 2.9 |
| 1999-00 | 11.5 | 14.1 | 1.3 | 3.3 |
| 2000-01 | 10.0 | 13.5 | 1.0 | 2.7 |
| 2001-02 | 11.5 | 10.8 | 1.0 | 2.4 |
| 2002-03 | 5.8 | 6.4 | 0.8 | 1.5 |
| 2003-04 | 5.6 | 6.7 | 0.4 | 1.9 |
| Career (thru '04) | 11.7 | 11.7 | 1.3 | 3.2 |
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Dikembe Mutombo - ©Photofile
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Last updated July 14, 2004
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