Dikembe Mutombo is one of the most ferocious defensive players in NBA history.
The 7'2" center from the Congo has patrolled the paint for six teams in 14 seasons, has been a member of the NBA All-Defensive team six times, and has led the league in blocks in five different seasons.
Dikembe was a legend among my group of friends during my middle school days: both for his finger-wag of disapproval after every rejection and for his (most likely apocryphal) pick-up line of "Who wants to sex Mutombo?"
True or not, listening to my buddy Gabe parody a potential Dikembe/groupie bar conversation during every Philadelphia 76ers game that we watched remains one of the running highlights of my eighth grade year.
But a closer look at the All-Star reveals not just a gifted basketball player, but a man of extraordinary generosity and intelligence. Mutombo had no aspirations to be an NBA player when he came to America at age 18; he was on scholarship at Georgetown University studying to be a doctor. Even after it became apparent that NBA stardom was on his horizon, Mutombo still graduated, and even pursued a double major in linguistics and diplomacy.
The man is fluent in English, Spanish, French, Portuguese, and five Central African dialects! Clearly he is not your average NBA player, and we haven't even scratched the surface yet.
Mutombo's mother died in the Congo in 1997; she didn't have access to quality medical care. He subsequently vowed to improve the dire medical situation in that country and upped his charitable efforts, giving $3.5 million in 2004 to help open the Congo's first modern hospital. Last August, Mutombo donated $15 million to open a second hospital there, which is now named after his late mom.
Dikembe Mutombo is the absolute antithesis of what we expect from our professional athletes. He is highly educated, incredibly unselfish, and dedicated to using his public stature and wealth to better the lives of his country's people. So allow me this question: why on earth don't we hear about him?
CNN had intermittent coverage of L.A. Laker Kobe Bryant's 2003 rape trial. CNN! A bevy of sports networks offer up-to-the-minute reporting on Terrell Owens' latest missed practice for the Cowboys. Randy Moss just launched a tirade against his franchise, the Oakland Raiders, and the team hadn't even played their first game yet.
Just for fun, I Googled a couple of keywords. "Kobe Bryant rape" returns 364,000 hits; "Terrell Owens saga" bounces back 71,800 sites; and "Mutombo charity" shows just 22,600 hits. When I think about pro athletes being selfish, I think about these numbskulls, and I'll bet that I'm not alone. Meanwhile, class acts like Mutombo fly under the radar.
Why does this happen? First, I think that part of the issue is the proliferation of sports talk radio and TV shows. Shows like "Rome is Burning," "Pardon the Interruption," and "Around the Horn" thrive on controversy. Callers and viewers don't agitate over a $15 million charitable donation; it's undeniably positive, and they'll just pat him on the back and move on to the Floyd Landis doping scandal.
An irate audience-and guys like Moss and Bryant inflame emotion among sports fans-is an audience that'll keep ratings up. Secondly, though, I think that we fans are part of the problem. I don't like Kobe and I don't like T.O., but I avidly followed Bryant's case and I could tell you all about Owens' $8,500 fine for missing practice recently. I don't like the saturation coverage of selfish stars, but I help perpetuate it when I follow it.
That is why I've decided to quit the negativity cold-turkey. I'm changing the station when Randy Moss comes up. I won't read the articles on ESPN.com when Owens blasts his coach and his quarterback. I don't want to keep feeding the beast. If you're a sports fan and you feel like I do, join me before it's too late, before stories like that of Dikembe Mutombo disappear from our collective sporting consciousness forever.
Matthew Mertens is a sophomore who has not yet declared a major.
