Dikembe Mutombo Honored at State of the Union Address
President George W. Bush Honored the Houston Rockets Center for his charity works in the Congo during his 2007 State of the Union Address. Named Dikembe Mutombo Mpolondo Mukamba Jean Jacque Wamutombo, he has won the President’s Service Award in 1999 for his social work outside of the NBA.
President Bush Said:
Dikembe Mutombo grew up in Africa, amid great poverty and disease. He came to Georgetown University on a scholarship to study medicine — but Coach John Thompson got a look at Dikembe and had a different idea. (Laughter.) Dikembe became a star in the NBA, and a citizen of the United States. But he never forgot the land of his birth, or the duty to share his blessings with others. He built a brand new hospital in his old hometown. A friend has said of this good-hearted man: “Mutombo believes that God has given him this opportunity to do great things.” And we are proud to call this son of the Congo a citizen of the United States of America. (Applause.)
Dikembe is one of the greatest centers of the NBA that came out of Georgetown University(Patrick Ewing and Alonzo Mourning.) He started his career as Denver Nugget (5 years) before moving to Atlanta (4 years), Philadelphia (1 year where he played in the Finals), New Jersey, New York then finally with the Houston Rockets. He is not really known for his offensive ability but more so for his blocking ability. He used to do the finger wag whenever he blocked somebody then it was banned by the NBA for offensiveness and could now draw you a technical foul.
One of the most notable events in his career was when he blocked Michael Jordan and he did the finger wag at him. On the next possession Jordan dunked on him and returned the finger wag favor. I also remember one scene where Michael Jordan was teasing him, when he was still new in the league, that he was going to shoot his free throw with his eyes closed and dedicate the shot to him, it went in of course.
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oh this is my first time after a very long time to see Dikembe again
I am familiar with that finger wag lol I didn’t know it was banned hehe
Yep, it would cost you 2 free throws plus ball possession for your opponent…