I have a great deal of regard for Dikembe Mutumbo. He is a class act.

[BleedingHeartPatriot]

Maybe he was hoping that his Charity Foundation would get more attention by being mentioned in the SOTU. In fact, he received recognition from President Clinton, as well.

Anyway, I admired him when he played here in Denver and I continue to admire his humanitarian work.

Mutombo is married to Rose, and have one daughter, Carrie Biamba Wamutumbo, and a younger boy, Jean Jacques Dikembe Mutumbo Mplombo, Jr. He also serves as adoptive parents for four other children, two boys and two girls. Mutombo is polylingual, able to speak English, French, Spanish, Portuguese and five African dialects. During his time at Georgetown, he also showed an affinity for higher education, as he earned bachelor's degrees in Linguistics and Diplomacy.

A well-known humanitarian, Mutombo started the Dikembe Mutombo Foundation to improve living conditions in his native Democratic Republic of Congo in 1997. His efforts earned him the NBA's humanitarian award in 2001. In the same year, ground was broken for a hospital in his hometown, the Congolese capital of Kinshasa, with Mutombo personally donating $3.5 million toward the hospital's construction. On August 14, 2006, Dikembe donated $15 million to the completion of the now named Biamba Marie Mutombo Hospital, named for his mother. When it opens in February 2007, the $29 million facility will become the first modern medical facility to be built in that area in nearly 40 years.For his feats, The Sporting News named him as one of the "Good Guys in Sports" in 1999 and 2000,and in 1999, he was elected as one of 20 winners of the President's Service Awards, the nation's highest honor for volunteer service. In 2004, he also participated in the Basketball Without Borders NBA program, where NBA stars like Shawn Bradley, Malik Rose or DeSagana Diop toured Africa spreak the word about basketball and to improve the infrastructure. He also paid for uniforms and expenses for the Zaire women's basketball team during the 1996 Centennial Olympic Games in Atlanta. In honor of his humanitarianism, Mutombo was invited to President George W. Bush's 2007 State of the Union Address and was mentioned by the President in his speech.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dikembe_Mutombo

MKJ

[GreenZoneLT]

1. And he was a shot-blockin' fool, too.

Don't be bringing no junk into the paint when Mutombo is around.

[Redbear]

2. He is still a great player.

His last 6 games for the Rockets he has averaged 12.5 rebounds and 2.0 blocks per game.

[poverlay]

3. I'm sure he's wonderful, but am saddened by the fact that one man's achievements

are the subject of almost an entire paragraph in a speech intended to inform on the entire nation, when massive problems such as Katrina, Darfur, Somalia, etc., etc., etc., receive very little or no mention.

[BleedingHeartPatriot]

4. True. I'm guessing that wasn't what Dikembe was looking for, either. He looked pretty surprised at

extended soliloquy about his life. MKJ

[Toots]

5. Cheney is every bit as wealthy but has he given any to fight aids or hunger or anything?

Every person in Bush*'s address book probably has more than Mutumbo but they hoard their money instead of using it to help humanity. IMO Mutumbo just showed to the world what Republicans are not....

[belpejic]

6. Dikembe is the man

He's pretty much an ideal for me. A great, great athlete (not as good as Patrick Ewing, mind you, and let's not get into that), a super smart man, and a guy who is willing to back up his beliefs with ample cash. I can barely understand two languages other than English, so on that basis alone he awes me.