Impossible to Forget Dikembe

Felled after a collision with a man half his age, Dikembe Mutombo will apparently never play in the NBA again. This isn't the first retirement for Mutombo, but it sure feels like the final one. And boy, the league will miss this guy. But no one will forget him.

The clip above shows Deke as he will always be remembered: the very model of exuberence in victory. From the finger wag to the enthusiastic lobbying of his teammates on behalf of African causes, Mutombo always showed exuberence. We bemoan the wasting of so much status from our celebrity athletes ... but Mutombo has never wasted an ounce of it, and he deserves an ocean of credit for that.

One man can only reach so many ears and eyes. One of the great things about Dikembe when it comes to the cause of the Congolese (and more recently the Sudanese) people is that Mutombo has made extraordinary efforts to get other folks (including his teammates) involved. Not content with using his own voice to better the world, Deke told Tracy McGrady about the tragedies of Darfur. He enlisted the help of his NBA friends to build a needed hospital in his native Kinshasa. At every turn, Mutombo has used his wealth and fame to expand attention on Africa's problems. He's done the work of 1,000 ambassadors by raising awareness.

Seeing Mutombo carted off the floor on a stretcher was a sad moment for all NBA fans, surely. Dikembe deserved to go out on his own terms. But in a way he did: he went out playing basketball. He played until his body could no longer handle it. We shouldn't be sad about this -- he won't be one of those players that sits on his hands and can't figure out how to survive without 82 games. The NBA's loss, frankly, is the world's gain. We won't forget Dikembe the NBA player, and I can guarantee Dikembe won't let us forget about Dikembe the citizen. Thank goodness for that.

You can donate to the Dikembe Mutombo Foundation here.