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Remembering Dikembe Mutombo, an inspiration on and off the basketball court

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23min 22sec
Obit Mutombo Basketball
Julio Cortez/AP Photo
Former NBA basketball player Dikembe Mutombo laughs during a news conference announcing him as one of the 12 finalists of this year’s hall of fame class during an event ahead of the NBA All Star basketball game, on Feb. 14, 2015, in New York.

Dikembe Mutombo was more than a Hall of Fame basketball player; he was a humanitarian who loved helping other. He died September 30, 2024 at the age of 58 after a battle with brain cancer. We reflect on his life and impact on and off the court, including as a star player for the Denver Nuggets, with Marc Spears, a senior NBA writer for ESPN and Andscape who covered the Nuggets for the Denver Post, and with Justin Adams, a sports journalist for CBS4 Denver who grew up watching Mutombo.

Photo shows sports journalist Marc Spears sitting with basketball legend and former Denver Nugget Dikembe Mutombo
Courtesy Marc Spears
Marc Spears, a senior NBA writer for ESPN and Andscape, sits with his friend and basketball legend Dikembe Mutombo, who played five seasons with the Denver Nuggets.
Photo shows Justin Adams, a sports journalist from CBS4 in Denver.
Courtesy Justin Adams
Justin Adams is a sports journalist at CBS4 in Denver. He grew up watching Dikembe Mutombo play basketball with the Nuggets.