Mutombo made defense the center of his basketball career

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. Why not make Dikembe Mutombo’s full name a little longer?

You can now officially add Hall of Famer to one with the birthright of Dikembe Mutombo Mpolondo Mukamba Jean-Jacques Wamutombo.

The native of the Congo was enshrined into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Friday following an 18-year NBA career.

“I wanted to be remembered as one of the best defensive players to play this game,” Mutombo said during his speech at the Springfield Symphony Hall. “I think I accomplished that.”

Defense did matter to Mutombo, the 7-foot-2 center. It was, in fact, was a point of pride with him. He is second on the NBA’s all-time career blocks list with 3,289 and 19th on the rebound list with 12,359. However, his 11,729 points doesn’t even rank in the top 250 on the all-time list.

During Mutombo’s career, that included four-plus seasons with the Hawks, and was an eight-time All-Star, a four-time Defensive Player of the Year and a six-time All-Defensive Team selection.

“It’s a really great to be recognized by the committee and to be sent to the Basketball Hall of Fame because of your ability to play defense,” Mutombo said earlier this week. “There are so many more guys who came out and scored more points than me but the impact didn’t hit the game high like I know I did. I think my defensive ability changed the approach of the game, changed the tone of the game, it made the coaches think differently when they were playing the team Mutombo was playing on.”

Mutombo was presented by Hall of Famers John Thompson, his coach at Georgetown University, and David Stern, the former NBA commissioner.

“Dikembe was smart enough to understand that his identity (was) rebounding and blocking shots,” Thompson said in a tape interviewed played at the ceremony. “And it carried him all the way through the NBA.”

Mutombo spent much of his short speech thanking those who helped him along his NBA journey with six teams. Mutombo played for the Nuggets, Hawks, Rockets, 76ers, Knicks and Nets during his career. He named coaches, management, owners and teammates from each franchise.

From the Hawks, Mutombo thanked former president Stan Kasten, general manager Pete Babcock, coach Lenny Wilkens and teammate Steve Smith. The franchise in the city Mutombo calls home, will retire his No. 55 in November.

Mutombo said he wished his parents could have lived to see the culmination of his basketball career. His mother passed away in 1998 of a stroke. The hospital he helped build in the Congo is named in her honor. His father passed away two years ago. Mutombo dedicated his induction to his wife, Rose Mutombo. He also thanked their three children and his brother, Ilo Mutombo, who brought him to his first basketball court at age 17 despite his protests.

Mutombo was one of 11 inductees in the Hall of Fame Class of 2015 with Dick Bavetta, John Calipari, Louis Dampier, Lindsay Gaze, Spencer Haywood, Tom Heinsohn, John Issacs, Lisa Leslie, George Ravling and Jo Jo White.

The world-wide humanitarian efforts of Mutombo remain at the center of his heart. He ended his speech with thoughts on what he has done and has yet to do, especially on his home continent.

“Playing basketball allowed me to become a global citizen,” Mutombo said. “It is because of the game that I was able to build a hospital in the Congo, which has now served over 140,000 people. My life’s mission is to continue to change the living conditions of the people of Africa. I may not have won the championship but I’m a champion to so many people.”

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