Congolese-American basketball star Dikembe Mutombo passed away on Monday at the age of 58 and tributes poured in immediately.
While many of those tributes came regarding his Basketball Hall of Fame career, in which he was considered one of the best defensive players in NBA history, others referenced his humanitarian work in Africa and around the globe.
Mutombo started the Dikembe Mutombo Foundation to improve living conditions in his native Democratic Republic of Congo in 1997, was a longtime supporter of the Special Olympics, and was a SportsUnited sports envoy for the U.S. Department of State, just to name a few of the ways he gave back to the world.
ESPN’s Chiney Ogwumike, who is of Nigerian heritage, dedicated a segment to discussing Mutombo on Monday, sharing that she knew him as “Uncle Dikembe.”
“You see, it has never been Dikembe Matumbo to me. It has always been Uncle. Uncle Dikembe is literally how he’s saved in my phone. Because in our culture as Africans, that is how we show respect to our elders. And there was no one that I respected more, both on and off the court, than Uncle Dikembe,” said Ogwumike. “We all know his accolades as a Hall of Famer, his defensive dominance, that iconic ‘No, no, no, not today’ finger wag. But it’s his work off the court that is his true legacy.
The NBA’s first-ever global ambassador. And through his foundation, he built a hospital from the ground up that has treated over one million people back home in the Democratic Republic of Congo. And on our many trips back to the continent. He wasn’t just an ambassador of the game. He was literally a symbol of hope. He is Uncle Dikembe because he was family to each and every person he would meet. And the world is so much better for it.”
“When people talk about Dikembe, they always say larger than life. But to us in our culture, we have another phrase, another saying for that. African giant. He was truly a giant of Africa in his spirit, his resilience, and his joy.”
The clip also includes footage from Toronto Raptors president of baseball operations Masai Ujiri’s press conference discussing Mutombo.
Ogwumike has picked up that torch from Mutombo as well as an inaugural member of the President’s Advisory Council on African Diaspora Engagement.