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Four-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year Dikembe Mutombo was stunned and teared up when Atlanta Hawks’ CEO Steve Koonin made the announcement of the former’s jersey retirement at a ceremony in Fulton County at the Fulton County Government Center on Tuesday. Koonin also declared September 1st 2015 as Dikembe Mutombo day.
“The most surprising, as you can see from the tears in my eyes, is the announcement that was made,” Mutombo said, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “It’s the most shocking to me. … I didn’t know the Hawks were going to retire my jersey. I can’t believe it. It’s going to be a great day.”
Mutombo’s jersey #55 will be raised to the rafters of the Philips Arena when the Hawks host the Boston Celtics on November 24th on national television. His jersey will hang alongside three others namely: Dominique Wilkins (#21), Bob Petit (#9) and Lou Hudson (#23). The timing couldn’t be any better as Mutombo is a member of the 2015 class that will be elected into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame on September 11th.
“When you look at the history of the Hawks and you see a player who made such a positive contribution, who is going to be Hall of Famer and who resides in Atlanta, it was two simple (phone) calls,” Koonin said. “One to (general manager) Wes (Wilcox) and one to Bud (president of basketball operations/head coach Mike Budenholzer) saying what you think? They couldn’t have been more enthusiastic.”
Mutombo’s career with the Hawks
Mutombo played five relatively successful seasons for the Hawks from 1996 to 2001 while ranking third in franchise history in blocks and rebounds per game. Not to mention he is second in NBA history in career blocks. For Mutombo’s first three years in Atlanta, the team was doing great winning 56 games, then 50 followed by 31 wins in the 1998-99 lockout season however it was all downhill after that.
“It’s a big honor,” Koonin said the number retirement. “We have not done it for a lot of players. You talk about somebody with a career with several chapters in it and each one is a positive.”
In his five seasons with the Hawks, Mutombo averaged 10.2 points, 12.3 rebounds and 3.1 blocks per game. Over the course of his 18 years in the league, he was an eight time All-Star and was named to 3 NBA All-Defensive First Team and 3 NBA All-Defensive Second Team.
Mutombo is also a two-time winner of the J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award, presented to him by the league for his many humanitarian efforts. Mutombo's on and off-court accomplishments were a huge reason for the announcement of Dikembe Mutombo Day. In not so suprising fashion, he left right after the ceremony for a humanitarian trip to China.
