The Sixers will honor their late member of their 2001 Finals team with a tribute and a gift to his family
This is more than well-deserved.
The Sixers announced that they would be honoring the late Dikembe Mutombo on their Feb. 20 matchup against the Boston Celtics. Mutombo passed away after a battle with brain cancer in September 2024.
He spent a year and a half with the Sixers after being acquired at the trade deadline for Theo Ratliff in the midst of their 2000-01 season. He finished out that season bringing home the Defensive Players of the Year award as the Sixers made a run to the NBA Finals. The next year he averaged 11.5 points and 2.4 blocks per game for Philadelphia as he made the All-Star team and won his second straight DPOY award. He went on to become renown for his humanitarian work in his post-playing career.
“The celebration will highlight his time as a key member of the last 76ers team to make the NBA Finals, but more importantly, his impact off the court as a humanitarian and global ambassador,” the Sixers said in a release.
The first 5,000 fans in attendance for that game against the Celtics will receive a Mutombo foam finger. His family will ring the bell pregame, the Sixers’ players will wear warmup shirts that say, “DM55,” and some of his Sixers’ teammates will be in attendance as well.
Not only will they be honoring Mutombo that night, but they are also welcoming his family to their practice facility the following day. The team will present to them a custom painting of Mutombo.