For as loved as Dikembe Mutombo was in the NBA, and for as many souls as he’s touched around the game of basketball, there aren’t many people who knew the larger-than-life centre as well as Masai Ujiri did.
The two worked closely together when Ujiri began as an executive with the Denver Nuggets, but more than that, the two were forefront figures for Basketball Without Borders and Giants of Africa, helping expand the game to Africa and around the world as both a sport and a means to help those in need.
Mutombo unexpectedly passed away on Monday at age 58 after a battle with brain cancer and the Raptors’ president of basketball operations delivered a heartfelt speech about his impact on the sport, Africa, the world as a whole, and of course, on himself.
“It’s really hard to believe. It’s hard for us to be without that guy. You have no idea what Dikembe Mutombo meant to me,” Ujiri said.
“I have to say though, that guy, he made us who we are. That guy is a giant, incredible person. Who are we without Dikembe Mutombo … you have no idea what that guy means to the world and he’s gone, he left us. That guy was the biggest giant you could ever find, with the biggest heart. I know he’ll rest well, his family will be fine … he did so much for us, for the continent of Africa, for his people.”
Ujiri spoke about the time he spent with Mutombo, visiting the hospital he built in Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo and Mutombo’s hometown.
The time the two spent together was usually focused on that sort of humanitarian work. From projects as big as improving public health in Africa or more community-oriented initiatives like building basketball courts in local villages, the two worked hand-in-hand on giving back to the places that raised them.
“What he’s brought to youth, to people on the continent, we cannot even imagine,” Ujiri said. “You cannot even imagine what that guy has done for me in my career. He took me under his wing in Denver and made me grow as a person. … There’s nobody that Mutombo didn’t touch.
“As big as he is, his heart was bigger.
“Today is not a good day for us, for sports, for us in Africa it’s not a good day at all. But we’ll celebrate him, celebrate him big. He set a path for us that I don’t know many people that could. I’m proud that I knew Dikembe Mutombo, I’m proud that I worked with him, I’m proud that he mentored me, I’m proud that I did a lot of work with him, travelled around the continent of Africa. This one hits home.”