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Masai Ujiri Speaks On Tragic Passing Of Dikembe Mutombo

Originally posted on Raptors Nation | By Luca Rosano | Last updated Sep 30, 2024 3:05 PM ET

Dikembe Mutombo unexpectedly passed away on Monday at age 58 after a battle with brain cancer.

Toronto Raptors’ president Masai Ujiri knew Mutombo very well. The two worked together when Ujiri began as an executive with the Denver Nuggets, but beyond that, both of them were important figures for Basketball Without Borders and Giants of Africa.

“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 and Mutombo spent a lot of time that focused on humanitarian work. Both of them gave back to helping improve public health in Africa or building basketball courts in local villages.

“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.”