Mutombo embodies what is right in the NBA

Long after the final moving van pulls away from the Furtado Center (whatever year that is), and the team has moved to Bennettworld, Okla., the memory of Dikembe Mutombo will stay in the minds of Sonics fans. And stick in their craws.

The fifth game of the first round of the 1994 playoffs, in a Seattle Coliseum as silent as death, Mutombo is prone in the paint, holding aloft the basketball, like some golden chalice, celebrating the Denver Nuggets' upset win over Seattle.

"Thinking about it still makes me happy," Mutombo says, in that signature raspy voice that sounds like someone gargling gravel.

Aaron Brooks was 9 years old, running in a track meet in Seattle, when word of that loss circulated around the stadium.

"I remember that game with the Nuggets, so I kind of didn't like Deke when I first met him," says Brooks, a Houston Rockets rookie and now Mutombo's teammate. "Seeing that tape of him on the floor, holding that ball, man, that hurt my heart. Deke's told me more than once that that year was the most exciting time of his life, but unfortunately it had to be on our floor."

That was back in the day when Seattle only worried about losing a playoff series, not a franchise.

In these maddening, maudlin days, Mutombo remains part of Sonics lore. The picture of him lying on his back, his long arms in the air, his grin almost as wide as the foul lane, was another kind of heartbreak for this city's basketball fans.

"I think about it every time the bus drives in here," Mutombo says. "It was a great accomplishment. It was one of the greatest upsets in NBA history. I enjoy thinking about that day, but it's also very sad to see your Seattle losing a team like this. I love coming here. It's a beautiful city. It's very sad to see that they might be leaving."

This awful season has been filled with bad news. In order to improve its draft position, the front office has turned the team into some kind of barnstorming basketball joke.

Just lose, baby.

We've seen the worst of the NBA this year. But let's remember what still is good about the league. We can start with Mutombo.

It isn't just that he has played 17 seasons with great dignity. He has been, probably, the league's leading citizen. He has a social conscience and a heart as big as Texas.

"The more you learn about him and the type of person he is and what he's done for his country and the impact he's had on so many people — he's the one you want to look at when you talk about this league," says Houston coach Rick Adelman. "He's just a complete professional, and he's ready to play every night and he's ready to practice every day. He's a pleasure to be around."

The breadth of his community service is unprecedented. Through his foundation he has improved the health and well-being of the people in his homeland, The Democratic Republic of Congo, including building a $29 million, 300-bed hospital in his hometown of Kinshasa.

He raises awareness as he raises millions to help, not only the Congolese people, but people in neighboring countries. He believes the average American doesn't understand the depth of the problems in Africa, from the AIDS pandemic, to the prevalence of malaria, to the government corruption, to the endless civil wars.

"If you ask people about Africa now, they may only know about Darfur," Mutombo says. "But more than 5.2 million people have died in the Congo, and nobody seems to talk about it. Famine. Disease. The misplacing of people. Sexual violence.

"We are losing a lot of the next generation, but we are so preoccupied with the war we are facing in this country in Iraq that it is taking many of our resources away from other projects. But I pray that the leaders of this world will look at it and try to come up with solutions."

In and out of the game, Mutombo is one of the great forces in the league. After Yao Ming was lost for the season, the Rockets were supposed to collapse. But with Mutombo, who turns 42 in June, starting at center, the Rockets have gone 15-5.

"It's a privilege to play with him," starting forward Luis Scola says.

All-Star Tracy McGrady says he wishes every teammate he has ever played with could have had the privilege of playing with Mutombo.

"What he's doing as a player is very inspiring to us," McGrady says. "But nobody, nobody has done more than Deke on the charitable side of this game. He epitomizes being a professional athlete and also doing what's right for the world.

"I watch him and I think, 'Don't lose sight of what's really important. Don't stop giving and helping make places better.' I mean, he's giving $10 to $11 million to build a hospital in his country. I can't say enough about the guy. He's a great, great guy. The ultimate guy."

Dikembe Mutombo is someone to remember in the midst of everything that is forgettable about this year.

Steve Kelley: 206-464-2176 or skelley@seattletimes.com