{"id":36288,"date":"2024-10-01T21:22:28","date_gmt":"2024-10-01T21:22:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eritrea\/all-news\/basketball-world-mourns-the-loss-of-nba-legend-dikembe-mutombo"},"modified":"2024-10-01T21:56:43","modified_gmt":"2024-10-01T21:56:43","slug":"basketball-world-mourns-the-loss-of-nba-legend-dikembe-mutombo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eritrea\/all-news\/basketball-world-mourns-the-loss-of-nba-legend-dikembe-mutombo","title":{"rendered":"Basketball world mourns the loss of NBA legend Dikembe Mutombo"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Eritrea. <\/strong><\/span>Toronto Raptors President Masai Ujiri was one of the many people in basketball to speak about the tragic loss of Dikembe Mutombo on Monday.<\/b><\/p>\n

Mutombo, a Basketball Hall of Famer who was one of the best defensive players in NBA history and a longtime global ambassador for the game, died Monday from brain cancer, the league announced. He was 58.<\/p>\n

His family revealed two years ago that he was undergoing treatment in Atlanta for a brain tumor. The NBA said he died surrounded by his family.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s really hard to believe,\u201d Ujiri said, pausing several times because he was overcome with emotion shortly after hearing the news of Mutombo\u2019s death. \u201cIt\u2019s hard for us to be without that guy. You have no idea what Dikembe Mutombo meant to me…. That guy, he made us who we are. That guy is a giant, an incredible person.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mutombo last played during the 2008-09 season, devoting his time after retirement to charitable and humanitarian causes. He spoke nine languages and founded the Dikembe Mutombo Foundation in 1997, concentrating on improving health, education and quality of life for the people in the Congo.\/\/<\/p>\n

Dikembe Mutombo, a Basketball Hall of Famer who was one of the best defensive players in NBA history and a longtime global ambassador for the game, died Monday from brain cancer, the league announced. He was 58.<\/p>\n

His family revealed two years ago that he was undergoing treatment in Atlanta for a brain tumor. The NBA said he died surrounded by his family.<\/p>\n

LeBron James pointed out with a laugh on Monday, Mutombo didn’t necessarily improve the health of others.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy fondest memory of Dikembe Mutombo? He fractured my face on my birthday in Cleveland with an elbow,\u201d James, the Los Angeles Lakers’ star, said while taking several minutes Monday to pay tribute to Mutombo’s life. “I never even got an opportunity to tell him about that. But yeah. I don\u2019t remember how old… I was in Cleveland, my first stint, and I think I was turning 22 maybe?<\/p>\n

\u201cI went to the hole and caught one of those Dikembe elbows, and if anybody know about the Dikembe elbows, they do not feel good. He fractured my face, and I went to the hospital that night, and I wore a mask for a little bit. That is my memory of Dikembe,\u201d James said.<\/p>\n

James was close on the details: Dec. 29, 2004, was when that play happened, late in the first half, one day before his 20th birthday.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Eritrea Follow Africa-Press<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Eritrea. Toronto Raptors President Masai Ujiri was one of the many people in basketball to speak about the tragic loss of Dikembe Mutombo on Monday. Mutombo, a Basketball Hall of Famer who was one of the best defensive players in NBA history and a longtime global ambassador for the game, died Monday from […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":36287,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,17],"tags":[770,233,4101,734],"class_list":["post-36288","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-sport","tag-basketball-africa-league","tag-eritrea","tag-lebron-james","tag-nba"],"yoast_head":"\nBasketball world mourns the loss of NBA legend Dikembe Mutombo - Eritrea<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Toronto Raptors President Masai Ujiri was one of the many people in basketball to speak about the tragic loss of Dike ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eritrea\/all-news\/basketball-world-mourns-the-loss-of-nba-legend-dikembe-mutombo\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Basketball world mourns the loss of NBA legend Dikembe Mutombo\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Toronto Raptors President Masai Ujiri was one of the many people in basketball to speak about the tragic loss of Dike ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eritrea\/all-news\/basketball-world-mourns-the-loss-of-nba-legend-dikembe-mutombo\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Eritrea\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-10-01T21:22:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-10-01T21:56:43+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/eritrea\/sites\/27\/2024\/10\/sm_1727807063.849967.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"538\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eritrea\/all-news\/basketball-world-mourns-the-loss-of-nba-legend-dikembe-mutombo#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eritrea\/all-news\/basketball-world-mourns-the-loss-of-nba-legend-dikembe-mutombo\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eritrea\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Basketball world mourns the loss of NBA legend Dikembe Mutombo\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-10-01T21:22:28+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-10-01T21:56:43+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eritrea\/all-news\/basketball-world-mourns-the-loss-of-nba-legend-dikembe-mutombo\"},\"wordCount\":439,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eritrea\/all-news\/basketball-world-mourns-the-loss-of-nba-legend-dikembe-mutombo#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/eritrea\/sites\/27\/2024\/10\/sm_1727807063.849967.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Basketball Africa League\",\"Eritrea\",\"lebron james\",\"NBA\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"sport\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eritrea\/all-news\/basketball-world-mourns-the-loss-of-nba-legend-dikembe-mutombo#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eritrea\/all-news\/basketball-world-mourns-the-loss-of-nba-legend-dikembe-mutombo\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eritrea\/all-news\/basketball-world-mourns-the-loss-of-nba-legend-dikembe-mutombo\",\"name\":\"Basketball world mourns the loss of NBA legend Dikembe Mutombo - 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