Quick Facts of Dikembe Mutombo
Real Name: | Dikembe Mutombo Mpolondo Mukamba Jean-Jacques Wamutombo |
Profession: | American Professional Baskebtall Player |
Birthdate: | June 25, 1966 |
Death Date | September 30, 2024 |
Age: | 58 years old |
Death Cause: | Brain Tumor |
Birthplace: | Léopoldville, Republic of the Congo |
Nationality: | Congolese/ Ameican |
High School: | Institute Boboto |
College: | Georgetown |
Jersey: | 55 |
Retired: | November 24, 2015 |
Height: | 7 foot, 2. 13 meter |
Siblings: | Ilo |
Marital Status: | Married |
Wife/ Spouse: | Rose Mutombo Kiese (lawyer, politician) |
Kids: | 3 Kids, 4 Adopted Nieces and Nephews |
Net Worth: | $75 Million |
Twitter: | @dikembe_Mutombo |
Instagram: | @Dikembemutombo |
What is Dikembe Mutombo’s net worth?
Late Professional 7 Foot long Basketball defender Dikembe Mutombo’s net worth was $75 Million at the time of his death.
Who is Dikembe Mutombo? What is his Profession and Nationality?
Former NBA defender Dikembe Mutombo has dedicated his post-playing career to helping others. But he didn’t played since 2009, his charity and coffee business both help him to grow his wealth.
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Dikembe Mutombo Facts
- Initially, Dikembe Mutombo aspired to become a physician, however, these aspirations were altered in his first semester at Georgetown University in 1987.
- In 1991, Mutombo was selected to play in the All-Star game after being drafted by the Denver Nuggets with a statistical average of 16 points and 12 rebounds.
- In 2009, however, Mutombo was practically retired after the rupture of the patella tendon in his knee. At that point, he was the oldest player in the league.
- In 2021, Mutombo established Mutombo Coffee. During this period the focus of their message was on gender inclusivity in the Congo and in the international trade of the corporation’s products.
Early Life, Birthday, Family, NBA Career
Dikembe Mutombo Mpolondo Mukamba Jean-Jaques Wamutombo was born June 25, 1966 in Kinshasa. He was one of from 10 kids of his father Biamba Marie and Samuel Mutombo.
He was of the Luba ethnic group in the Congo. And he has attended Boboto College for high school, studying with a view toward a medical career as a doctor.
He also used to play football earlier, but his tall height made his father and brother compel him to try out basketball.
In 1987, Dikembe was brought to the United States for the first time with the intention of attending Georgetown University to study medicine and get into that profession.
However, he was later recruited by the Hoyas’ head coach John Thomson into the team, and during the first season. He surprised everyone by blocking 12 shots in a single game.
A 1991 Georgetown graduate with a bachelor’s degree in diplomacy and linguistics. He was the number four pick overall by the Denver Nuggets.
Professional Career of Dikembe Mutombo
Dikembe Mutombo began playing in the NBA for the Denver Nuggets, where he quickly established himself as one of the best defenders in the league. After the Denver Nuggets traded Mutombo to the Atlanta Hawks right after the 1996 season. Their general manager Bernie Bickerstaff went on record saying that he regretted losing Mutombo from his roster the most in the history of his career.
He was on a five-year, $55 million contract that he played only two years for but did happen to win him back-to-back Defensive Player of the Year. A free agent after his initial season with the 76ers, Mutombo signed a one-year deal for $68 million.
After this deal came to an end, he attached himself to the New Jersey Nets for a season. Although he was with them for just a year and made a move to New York Knicks in 2003.
The New York Knicks traded him to the Chicago Bulls in 2004 only for the latter to trade him again to the Houston Rockets.
Dikembe Mutombo Career Earnings
Although Dikembe Mutombo had never been included in the list of the richest NBA players in the world. During his basketball player’s career, he had managed to make a good net income.
Some of his major career earnings are as follows:
- For simplification purposes, you may take that from the time he was drafted by Denver Nuggets in 1991 until 1993. When it rose to three million, which is the year he left the organization in 1996, Mutombo earned roughly about two million per year.
- After 1996, Mutombo’s earnings range increased to between 8 and 9 million dollars per year. The highest seasonal gain was recorded in the year 2000 when the earnings from salary had risen to 14 million.
- Dikembe Mutombo is a basketball player who collected relatively high salary when he was getting $16 million.
- All in all, over his entire spell in the NBA, Dikembe Mutombo earned upwards of 140 million dollars gross of tax.
Personal life of Dikembe Mutombo
Dikembe Mutombo had married to his beautiful wife Rose in 1995 at Kinshasa. They together have three children and have settled in Atlanta, Georgia.
Dikembe also took in four of Rose’s late brothers’ children as his own, and also children from them. He was given a doctor of humane letters from the State University of New York College at Cortland in 2004 for the work he had done towards philanthropy. Thus, he has 3 biological children and adopted another 44 nephews and
Ryan, one of Dikembe’s sons, now running for Georgetown University, where his dad went to college:
Achievements and Awards of Dikembe Kutombo
He was also a winner of many prizes in the course of his career and saw very many great happenings on the court. Although Mutombo became the victim of excessive media coverage like O’Neal. It is hard to deny that the man managed to achieve quite a number of things in the 18 years spent playing in the NBA.
The following are the most notable awards received by Dikembe Mutombo over the years. On February 10, 1998, he was named an NBA All-Star Game. He enjoyed this honor from 1992, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2001, and 2002. During the period Mutombo was named the NBA Defensive Player of the Year on four separate occasions.
In addition, it is worth noting that the honorary invitation to the State of the Union Address of George W. Bush in 2007 was extended to the former Center of Africa for his charity work in Congo. Besides, he was able to receive the Sager Strong Award in 2018- the award which was conferred upon him during the NBA where those who combated through the sport were recognized.
Despite the existing many more awards and achievements of Dikembe Mutombo. The ones presented herein have been the key highlights of his career.
What are the famous quotes of Dikembe Mutombo?
The following are some of his favorites quotes by Dikembe Mutombo:
- “God put us here to prepare this place for the next generation. That’s our job. Raising children and helping the community, that’s preparing for the next generation.” – Dikembe Mutombo
- “There are people out there dying every day, so when you wake up, you just have to thank the Man Upstairs for another day on this planet. There’s not much else we can ask for.” – Dikembe Mutombo
- “When I travel around the globe, I try as hard as I can to represent the NBA and the game of basketball to the best of my abilities. I get to go around the world and not only share the game but also my philanthropic work. Building a hospital in the Congo is one of the proudest achievements of my life.” – Dikembe Mutombo
- “I’ve always had a passion for giving back. It’s a family tradition that comes from my devout parents. They were always giving back and serving the community. So when I became fortunate enough and blessed to play the game of basketball, I was also fortunate enough to follow in my parent’s footsteps and give back like the way they did.” – Dikembe Mutombo
- “I come from a large family, but I was not raised with a fortune. Something more was left with me, and that was family values.” – Dikembe Mutombo