FIBA – Laureus honours Mutombo for humanitarian work

ABU DHABI (FIBA) – On the court, Dikembe Mutombo was every player’s nightmare – the often insurmountable and immovable obstacle that stood between them and the basket.

Off the court, he could not have been more different: a generous and selfless person that fellow athletes and regular people alike looked up to because of the difference he made through his humanitarian and charity work.

At their annual awards in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday night, the Laureus World Sports Academy rewarded the 7ft 2in tall native of the Democratic Republic of Congo for his philanthropy and outstanding service in the global community by making him the recipient of the Laureus Sport for Good Award.

“This award means a lot to me. I want to thank the World Sport Academy for giving me such a prestigious award in the recognition of all the work I have been doing, that I am doing to find a way to eradicate poverty around the world, especially on the African continent where we continue to see more death than anywhere else in the world,” he said.

A veteran of 18 NBA seasons who retired last year, Mutombo created the Dikembe Mutombo Foundation in 1997, a charitable organisation aimed at improving the health, education and quality of life for people in his home city of Kinshasa.

He set out to build the Marie Mutombo Hospital and Research Centre, a 300-bed hospital named after his late mother and which was situated on the outskirts of Kinshasa in a town called Masina.

The project had a cost of $29 million and Mutombo himself is said to have donated at least $15 million. The hospital opened in 2007.

In all, it is estimated that the 43-year-old has raised more than $30 million and his efforts have helped over 60,000 women and children in his homeland.

Mutombo has been active in the global community with FIBA and the NBA throughout his career and his efforts have only amplified since his retirement last spring.

He has been a regular fixture at Basketball without Borders (BWB) camps since the programme started almost 10 years ago.

He will headline the contingent of FIBA/NBA players and coaches who will travel to the Senegalese capital of Dakar this summer and serve as camp counsellors for the eighth edition of BWB Africa.

The former eight-time NBA All-Star and four-time Defensive Player of the Year has received many accolades for his humanitarian work.

In 1999, he received the President’s Service Award, then two years later the J Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award.

In 2007, he was the recipient of the Civil Rights Museums Sports Legacy Award and that same year was inducted into the World Sports Humanitarian Hall of Fame.

He is also a spokesman for international relief agency CARE and the first Youth Emissary for the United Nations Development Programme.

Following his retirement from the NBA, he was made a Global Ambassador for the league.

FIBA