In March 2022, many Senegalese were desirous to return home as they stood outside the gates of the Senegalese International Airport. John F. Kennedy together with his beloved African son who desired to spread the gospel of the NBA even further. His name was Dikembe Mutombo Mpolondo Mukamba Jean-Jacques Wamutombo.

Before the 2-meter-tall resident of the Republic of Congo boarded the needed first-class seat in Dakar, took every photo, signed every autograph and participated in every finger wave within the video: “No, no, no…” he was asked with a smile and and not using a hint of irritation. While Mutombo will be the most intimidating shot blocker in NBA history, his biggest impact was as a mild giant and humanitarian off the court. The famous basketball player selflessly made his native Africa and the world a greater place before he died on Monday on the age of 58 after an extended battle with brain cancer.

“I’ve come to realize that I don’t live alone in this world,” Mutombo told Andscape in 2022 in Dakar while attending Basketball Africa League games. “I live in a world surrounded by individuals with different cultures, different languages, people from different places and different islands. I’m not in search of who’s Congolese and who’s African.

“I just look for the people who are out there. I come to this point to say, what kind of investment are we making to ensure that the next generation has all the tools they need to move on to the next chapter of their lives?”

Mutombo got here to Washington in 1987 with hopes of becoming a health care provider at Georgetown University. Under the tutelage of legendary Georgetown coach John Thompson, Mutombo developed surgical shot-blocking skills in college and during 19 seasons within the NBA. The eight-time NBA All-Star ranks second in NBA history in blocked shots (3,289), behind only African American Hakeem Olajuwon. The four-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year also retired his No. 55 jersey with the Denver Nuggets and Atlanta Hawks.

Nuggets fans will always remember the sight of Mutombo, eyes closed and smiling, holding the ball above his head while lying flat on the ground after upsetting the top-seeded Seattle SuperSonics in the primary round of the 1994 NBA playoffs. NBA fans will always remember Mutombo’s iconic finger wagging as he blocked shot after shot. Young NBA fans could also be best conversant in Mutombo blocking all the pieces on this hilarious GEICO business.

For NBA commissioner Adam Silver, Mutombo was also about more than basketball.

“Dikembe Mutombo was simply larger than life,” Silver said in a press release. “On the court, he was one of the very best shot-blockers and defenders in NBA history. From the ground, he put his heart and soul into helping others.

For example, Mutombo was also twice a recipient of the NBA Citizenship Award. J. Walter Kennedy for “exceptional service and commitment to the community.” And if there was one person Mutombo loved and is credited with opening doors to assist Africa and the world, it was the late NBA commissioner David Stern. Stern’s assistance, ideas and resources have been instrumental in Mutombo’s humanitarian and basketball efforts in Africa.

After the Nuggets chosen Mutombo fourth overall within the 1991 NBA draft, Stern pulled him aside and said he wanted them to make a journey to Africa together. It wasn’t long before the 2 built a father-son relationship. Mutombo, Stern and other NBA players met with the late anti-apartheid activist Nelson Mandela in Johannesburg in 1993 as part of a tour of Africa. Stern has at all times had a global vision for the NBA and chosen Mutombo because the league’s first global ambassador in 2009.

In 2022, Mutombo told me the story of how Stern helped him in a shocking way after his father died within the DRC. Mutombo said his family desired to hold his father’s funeral within the DRC, however it was difficult because there was an ongoing civil war. Mutombo was told it was unsafe for him to attend such an event at the moment. But Mutombo said Stern was astonishingly in a position to use his deep African and global connections to broker a ceasefire for a couple of hours to permit the funeral to happen and allow his brother to take a personal boat there. Mutombo adamantly stated several times that it was a real story.

“I believed Stern then because he had the ability and knowledge to make things happen,” Mutombo said of Stern in an interview with Andscape in 2022. “He was a really smart man who desired to rule the continent. I’m very happy that our commissioner Adam Silver and deputy commissioner Mark Tatum are (following) thoroughly (in Stern’s footsteps). They are committed to David’s promise that the continent will shine.”

In 1996, Mutombo covered the expenses of the Congolese women’s basketball team’s trip to the Atlanta Olympics and bought their uniforms. In 1997, he founded the Dikembe Mutombo Foundation, “whose mission is to improve the health, education and quality of life of the people of Congo.” In 2009, Mutombo opened a $29 million hospital near Congo’s capital, Kinshasa, where 7.5 million people live in poverty and more than 1 million already receive care. The hospital, named after Mutombo’s mother, has treated more than 200,000 patients, in line with Georgetown.

Mutombo has promoted basketball world wide through the Basketball Without Borders program, which incorporates camps in Africa, participated within the NBA Africa Game in 2015, and was present at the sport in 2017. In 2020, the Dikembe Mutombo Foundation began construction of an elementary school within the DRC and through Mutombo Kawa, sourced beans from African coffee plantations, which through the Women in Coffee Initiative heralded opportunities for girls in need.

“My dad is my hero because he simply cared. “I remain the purest heart I have ever known” – Mutombo’s son, Ryan, he said on Instagram. “Sometimes I thought of my dad as superhuman. The child in me would sigh to hear that something like this never happened. My dad was an ordinary man who wouldn’t go far back to honor the world, its people, and its creator. He loved others with every fiber of his being. That’s what made him so approachable. That’s what made it real.”

Mutombo is the largest reason BAL exists today.

Mutombo was very emotional in the course of the 2017 NBA All-Star Weekend in Charlotte when Silver announced the arrival of BAL. Mutombo told Andscape that he was the primary one to get Silver to create BAL. BAL will begin its fourth season in 2025 under the leadership of its president and Mutombo’s close friend, Amadou Falla. Before Mutombo fell sick, he usually attended BAL matches and even danced enthusiastically with the Senegalese team and fans after the 2022 match.

BAL is already paying dividends, as this yr the Raptors drafted center Ulrich Chomche from Cameroon, the Jazz acquired rookie Babacar Sane from Senegal on an Exhibit 10 contract, and the announced Duke University men’s basketball program signed center Khaman Maluach from South Sudan.

“We did it because players like Dikembe pointed out the opportunities that exist not only in basketball but in the sports industry across the continent,” Silver told Andscape in 2017. “He and I have been there together at least four times since I was commissioner. And thanks to conversations with FIBA ​​and local sports ministers, we realize that there is a huge opportunity to further develop this discipline (in Africa).”

In 2017, Mutombo told Andscape: “We were trying to find a way to grow the game on the continent. Now the commissioner has made it happen for the league. No more walking around and playing the (exhibition) game. This is great.”

Olajuwon is undoubtedly the very best basketball player to ever come from Africa. Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid and Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo are two African NBA stars hot on Olajuwon’s heels. Toronto Raptors president Masai Ujiri and Fall will proceed to open doors for more Africans to learn the sport and find their way into the NBA.

But relating to being the godfather of African basketball, there isn’t any doubt who the large is: Dikembe Mutombo Mpolondo Mukamba Jean-Jacques Wamutombo.

“I’m sorry. It’s hard,” Ujiri he said, fighting back tears Monday at Raptors Media Day. “But I actually have to say this guy made us who we’re. This guy is a big. An amazing person. Who are we without Dikembe Mutombo? Impossible. It really is not. I went with him to his hometown of Dikembe Mutombo. I went to his hospital. You do not know how much this guy means to the world.

Embiid said Monday at Sixers Media Day: “It’s a sad day, especially for us Africans and really for the whole world, because beyond what he achieved on the basketball court, I think he was even better off the court.”

Las Vegas Aces forward A’ja Wilson’s trip took her parents, Roscoe and Eva Wilson, from South Carolina to Las Vegas, where they witnessed her win her third WNBA MVP award in five years and break league records.

As the Aces fall to the New York Liberty 1-0 in the WNBA semifinals (Game 2, Tuesday, 7:30 p.m. ET, ESPN2) and fight for a spot in the WNBA Finals with hopes of winning a 3rd straight WNBA title, Eva simply sums up her success daughters with the words: “God’s plan in God’s time.”

That’s a sentiment Eva has been consistently posting on social media in the wake of her daughter’s standout season, during which A’ja set recent WNBA single-season records for total points and rebounds. When Wilson was announced as the league’s first unanimous MVP in nearly twenty years, her mother was wearing the jersey black shirt with the phrase front and center written in daring white font.

For Eva, the phrase encompasses all the life lessons she and Roscoe taught their children.

“Everything that happens to (A’ja), every thing that happens to anyone, will occur only when God’s time comes and it’s in accordance with His plan. We’re just waiting to see what happens next,” Eva told Andscape. “I tell A’ji not to fret about all these other things, because guess what, if it’s for you, it’s for you, I imagine in it. I firmly imagine that that is for you, nobody can take it away from you.

This statement was the results of the motherly advice Eva received when A’ja was going through a difficult time. The life lessons the Wilsons instilled of their daughter laid the foundation for her success in the league.

During her MVP speech this season, Wilson thanked her parents for the sacrifices they made and for holding her accountable. Eva believes that with three league MVP awards, two WNBA championships and two Olympic gold medals, her daughter is reaping the harvest of her faith.

“A’ja believes in it. You have to believe with all your heart that this is your time. You do what you have to do. God will do the rest,” Eva said.

“If A’ja can take care of every thing she’s coping with – all these eyes on her, all the different opinions about her, and they typically come from individuals who don’t even know her – but when she will be able to take care of this stuff and still have the opportunity to attain what he does is nothing. But God, that is quite a bit for someone who’s been doing this probably since she was 15 or 16. She really handled it as best as anyone can.

Born and raised in South Carolina, the Wilsons learned from their parents’ experiences and the personal experiences of African Americans fighting racism. Roscoe Wilson got here of age in the Sixties during the height of the Civil Rights Movement. He remembers the assassination of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., desegregation and attending an integrated highschool.

The Wilsons are graduates of historically black colleges and universities. Eva Wilson attended South Carolina State University in Orangeburg and majored in business administration. Roscoe Wilson followed in the footsteps of many relations and attended Benedict College in Columbia, where he played basketball for the Tigers. It has been introduced Benedict College Hall of Fame as a player in 2011 According to BenedictAs a sophomore, he was eighth in the country in rebounding, averaging 22.5 rebounds. He was chosen to the All-Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference thrice. He focused on school and basketball, and attending an HBCU was key.

“It gave me a sense of security and peace of mind that there were other people around you who were going through what I was going through,” Roscoe said. “We could communicate at this level. Also while watching things happening around us that weren’t very nice for African Americans and harmful to our lifestyle

He recalls his father, Roscoe Sr., praying frequently and his mother, Ethel, who was a professor at Benedict, desperate to serve and help others, traits he sees in his own children. Eva Wilson recalls that her mother Hattie Rakes taught her to work hard, not to chop corners, and never to cheat the process. The Wilsons ensured that their kid’s lives reflected discipline, respect and faith in God.

“I don’t think we did anything extraordinary. We are simply parents, raising children based on how we were raised. That’s all we had to do,” Eva said. “We weren’t trying to be friends. I am your mother. And that’s how it is. Your children require respect, and above all, they must respect you as a parent. That’s what A’ja always did. Everything else is just a blessing.”

Present for the joyful occasion of the birth of their daughter, who’s knowledgeable athlete, the Wilsons witnessed the challenges and pressures that Black women face in the highlight – from negative comments on social media to nagging questions on their daughter.

“People only know about themselves what A’ja lets them know about themselves,” Wilson’s mother said. “You do not know her beyond what she lets about herself. You cannot imagine every thing you see on social media and skim about her.

“As you start to climb higher and higher, the more people will come and say what they think they can say about you, even though they don’t even know you.”

In a season where players have been vocal about fan comments, the WNBA issued an announcement Condemning racist, derogatory and threatening comments towards players. An emotional Wilson said during her MVP speech to her teammates, “There are days where I hate being A’ja Wilson.”

“It’s Hard” Wilson told the Las Vegas Review-Journal. “It’s really hard to just navigate a world that doesn’t necessarily want you to succeed, or that has to constantly wonder why you’re succeeding. And it gets exhausting because I’m literally just here to do my job. I’m here to play basketball. I’m here to have fun and bring people together by watching me play. So when passive aggressiveness and the racist conditioning that comes along with it, it’s sometimes hard to deal with.”

For parents, it was overwhelming to see their daughter frequently ridiculed on social media platforms. While they resisted the temptation to clap online, they as an alternative provided encouragement.

“The point is, to whom much is given, much is anticipated, so that you take care of it as best you’ll be able to. It doesn’t necessarily mean you may be prepared to handle all of it,” her father said. “If you wish help, you wish help. I do not think it’s any different from the others.

“We just listen. We’re just sitting there and making sure he has the support and love he needs.”

During the first round of the WNBA playoffs against the Seattle Storm, Wilson’s parents jumped on the court with joy when their daughter made a superb play or jumped in anger after missed calls. They described watching their daughter achieve her life goals as a blessing.

“I’m glad she chose basketball,” her father said with a broad smile. “I’m completely happy since it’s something she found her way into. I told her, ‘Listen, you’ve gotten to commit to being excellent. Don’t cheat the game. She took it literally and went through the roof with it.

There’s an enormous sense of gratitude and pride when someone mentions their daughter’s name as one in all the best players in the league. The Wilsons also feel proud when teammates praise their daughter.

Defensive Aces Kelsey Plum described Wilson as a lightweight who’s MVP on the court and as an individual. Aces guard Sydney Colson publicly thanked Wilson in a post on X, formerly often called Twitter. The Wilsons imagine it was a manifestation of what that they had been in a position to pour into their daughter throughout her life.

“A’ja is a superb soul. I feel she’s been there before,” her father said. “It was all the time obvious that he was a superb person. Being a world-class athlete got here later.

“That is why we never urged A’ji to do anything apart from to have a relationship with God in his own way. She follows the rules she has set for herself. She shows in TV shows, magazines and programs that she is just throughout her. It makes us proud that we did some things right.

While the Wilsons are pleased with their daughter’s record-breaking achievements, they imagine their daughter’s true legacy is what she achieved outside of basketball.

“Basketball is just a vehicle. I believe A’ja was destined to impact the lives of other people, especially young people,” her mother said. “Basketball just gave her a wider and larger platform.

“But I strongly believe that because of her makeup and DNA, she would be able to impact other people’s lives.”

Depending on your perspective, college football’s current landscape when it comes to paying players is either too radical or doesn’t go far enough. From my perspective, the conversation is on the goal line and wishes a little push. Thank goodness for former NFL linebacker Reggie Bush recreating one in all his most iconic players game.

Bush’s final push is lawsuit against his alma mater, USC, the PAC-12 and the NCAA, looking for damages for the usage of his name, image and likeness during his time with this system. According to Bush’s lawsuit, these entities continually made money from him – while he was a student-athlete, an NFL player and beyond.

Bush’s attorneys also said in a press release that after Bush left USC to play within the NFL, the three entities continued to financially profit from his popularity “without any recognition of his contributions.”

“This case is not just about seeking justice for Reggie Bush,” said Evan Selik, one in all the lawyers representing Bush. “This is about setting a precedent for fair treatment for all college athletes. Our goal is to right this injustice and pave the way for a system where athletes are rightly recognized, rewarded and treated fairly for their contributions.”

Today’s gamers could make decisions that previous generations lacked. UNLV quarterback Matt Sluka and point guard Michael Allen announced they’ll redshirt and be out for the remainder of the yr on account of a NIL dispute.

“I committed to UNLV based on certain representations made to me that were not maintained after my enrollment” – Sluka published on X. “Despite the discussions, it has become clear that these commitments will not be implemented in the future. I wish my teammates all the best this season and look forward to continued success in the program.”

Sluka has the leverage and subsequently the conviction to make this very difficult decision: give me my money or I won’t attack. However, if Sluka was promised something and didn’t receive it, it’s an injustice just like what Bush’s lawyer described.

Injustice. Now we’re talking. Paying college players is not just a labor rights issue – it’s a civil rights issue.

In 2022The National College Players Association has filed a civil rights grievance with the U.S. Department of Education against Division I schools. “This multibillion-dollar sports enterprise imposes discriminatory practices that disproportionately harm Black athletes while mostly white coaches and administrators earn millions of dollars,” Ramogi Huma, the association’s executive director, said in a statement.

The concept of the “student-athlete” was created by the NCAA within the Nineteen Fifties to avoid having to treat college athletes as employees. Ray Dennison, a Fort Lewis A&M lineman, suffered a skull contusion during a game in 1955 and died. When his widow applied for the death profit, it was initially approved but was rejected on appeal. Why? Because Dennison was neither a “student” nor an “employee.”

What would the NCAA do to perpetuate the lie? Simple. Smear black athletes.

OJ Simpson, who worked at USC from 1967-68, was allowed to maintain his Heisman Trophy after he was convicted of armed robbery charges in 2008. Bush was stripped of the trophy for 14 years, only getting it back after The NIL made his excommunication an unquestionable hypocrisy. USC treated him like a pariah, though his highlights remain in our imaginations. Bush didn’t give the sport a black eye, he gave it a black eye – pride and distinction. NCAA prohibited the news can be black.

Michigan forward Chris Webber and his great five brothers suffered a similar fate on the university after it was discovered that he and 4 other players had borrowed $616,000 from Michigan State coach Ed Martin. Webber first said he had no financial relationship with Martin, but then said he had borrowed money from him. They were crushed when the university initiated a long separation from the group missed victories and imposed sanctions on itself in 2002. Mary Sue Coleman, then the university’s president, called it a “day of great shame.” Webber responded to college sanctions saying, “It was just heartbreaking because we gave everything to Michigan. They recruited us, asked us to come there, and we wanted to.”

The rhetoric about “unacceptable benefits” has never convinced me identical to Jalen Rose and Webber’s comment An ESPN documentary during which the 2 lamented that they didn’t receive a dime from T-shirt sales. Like Bush, the Fab Five were icons, and the true crime was their inability to money in on their fame.

When Cam Newton was Auburn’s quarterback – should you’ll let opposing SEC fans say it back then – he was a cheater. The truth is that, like Michigan coach Ed Martin, Cecil Newton, Cam Newton’s father, saw through the student-athlete’s lie. According to the documents, Cecil Newton and former Mississippi State player Kenny Rogers demanded between $120,000 and $180,000 for the Bulldogs quarterback to contract, but didn’t ask every other school for money. “Cecil Newton’s Gap” which allowed Cam Newton to play in Auburn’s 2010 national championship game became a legend (or a lie, depending on your viewpoint) and, after initial uncertainty, was deemed eligible to play.

From my perspective, there was one other lie beyond the student-athlete narrative.

While Newton, the Fab Five and Bush were criticized, quarterback Johnny Manziel, who played at Texas A&M, was respected though his father had the identical forward-thinking philosophy as Cecil Newton. Manziel won the Heisman Trophy as a freshman in 2012, which earned him $37 million in media coverage, based on the Netflix documentary. Texas A&M raised a record $740 million in donations through the fiscal yr Manziel won the Heisman, which was $300 million greater than he ever raised.

“It’s spring 2014, December 2013.” Manziel said on the show episode Shannon Sharpe Podcast. “I’m preparing to make a decision if I’m going to enter the NFL draft or stay… My dad went to fulfill Kevin Sumlin. And I actually reached out to him personally and said, “We’ll take $3 million and stay for the next two years.” The university turned them down and Manziel declared for the NFL draft.

In my opinion, Bush should not be the one player demanding compensation for ZERO money lost.

Some see the NIL era as opening Pandora’s box, but evil has already been built into the language of not paying college athletes. Maybe it is the three-letter acronym NIL, which stands for name, image and likeness, but I still don’t see zero within the proposition of paying players because those funds are paid by third parties, not schools, conferences or the NCAA.

This is mental dishonesty at best and blatant robbery at worst.

However, Pandora’s Box will not be only a story about evil, but additionally about hope. How fitting that the story began with a basketball player from USC’s rival, UCLA. Forward Ed O’Bannon took on the NCAA and won in 2014 when a the judge ruled that the NCAA cannot stop players from selling the rights to their name, image and likeness, which might pave the best way for NCAA Policy Change in 2021.

Now, in line with the familiar promotion, Bush has finally pulled as much as The Heisman House. But that is not enough. He wants the entire neighborhood and I hope a few of his famous brothers follow suit.