Mutombo, shot blocker and humanitarian, entering Hall

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. - Dikembe Mutombo never expected to become the man who was introduced Thursday as part of the Basketball Hall of Fame's Class of 2015.

"When I came to America, I did not intend to become a basketball player. I was here to become a doctor," he said. "But when you dream, you don't know where your dream will take you."

Similarly, the expectations he created with his 7-foot-2 frame, his growl of a voice and the famously wagging fingers that warned opponents also had to be altered. Far from being the fearsome force his court persona suggested, he was instead a warm and welcoming soul, one who now is one of sport's leading altruists.

Mutombo's dream mutated after the Zaire (now Democratic Republic of the Congo) native was awarded a State Department scholarship to study medicine at Georgetown. Once there, the 7-2 student was persuaded to play basketball by Hoyas coach John Thompson.

With few refined physical skills, Mutombo wisely focused on defense. That ability was what got him to Springfield, where most of his fellow Hall members are more renowned for offensive talents.

"I was fortunate to learn from Coach Thompson," Mutombo said. "He was a big man himself and a teammate of Bill Russell, the greatest defensive player. Today, those playing the game, you don't see many who are talking about defense. You might hear the fans sing, 'D-fense. D-fense.' But nobody is trying to play that way. That's why it's great to be honored for that."

In 18 NBA seasons, 11/2 in Philadelphia, Mutombo was an eight-time all-star, a four-time defensive player of the year and a five-time blocked-shots leader. He became such a feared presence in the paint that Allen Iverson, never one to pass up a shot, refused to challenge him at practice when the two were teammates.

"Allen didn't want to come in to me," Mutombo laughed. "He knew all about the Big Fellow."

After Thursday's ceremony, when he and 10 others were presented with their Hall blazers, Mutombo typically was more interested in discussing his tireless humanitarian efforts.

Active with American-based charities like the Special Olympics and Big Brothers and Sisters, he has led efforts around the world to ameliorate poverty and bring decent health care to those without it. Most notably, he has been the NBA's official ambassador to Basketball Without Borders, an organization devoted to bettering the world through the sport.

What he's most proud of, though, is the hospital named for his late mother that he opened in Kinshasa in 2007. Mutombo's personal donations and fund-raising skills made possible the $30 million facility in his native land. More than 150,000 patients have been treated there.

"If I'd become a doctor, I couldn't have done this much to help others," he said. "How many doctors do you know who have gone out and built a hospital? They're all worrying about malpractice insurance and their careers. I've been more fortunate."

Again, that hospital wasn't what he'd expected. Initially, he brought food to Congo's poorest regions.

"I thought, 'If I give you rice now, you may still be hungry later,' " he said. "But if I give you a hospital, it will always be there."

As Mutombo walked to the stage Thursday, a fan in the audience playfully wagged a finger at him. It's a gesture he has come to expect whether he's in Kinshasa or Kansas.

"At first when I would block a shot, guys weren't getting it," he said. "I knew I needed something that would register in their heads. So I did it. Pretty soon other players were doing it. And now it's everywhere."

One suspects that when he walks to the podium at the formal induction ceremony on Friday, his finger will do some of the talking.

"Maybe," he laughed. "Maybe I will use that finger to speak."

Mutombo recently returned from China, where he preached basketball's healing powers. Soon after returning from this Hall weekend, he'll be off yet again to Africa.

"I'm pretty sure," Patrick Ewing, his shot-blocking predecessor at Georgetown, said recently, "that there's never been another great basketball player who did so many great things away from the game."

@philafitz