Tag: Dikembe Mutombo

Shaquille O’Neal thinks Dikembe Mutombo disrespected him in 2001 NBA Finals

One aspect of Dikembe Mutombo’s strategy against Shaquille O’Neal in the 2001 NBA Finals didn’t sit well with the great Lakers center.

In his eight seasons with the Los Angeles Lakers, Shaquille O’Neal established himself as one of the most dominant players in NBA history. He won the league MVP award and helped lead the Lakers to the first of three straight world championships during the 1999-2000 season, and his performance that season was arguably the most dominant of any player ever.

In the 2001 NBA Finals, he and his Lakers went up against the gutsy Philadelphia 76ers. While the 76ers were anemic offensively, they had the Defensive Player of the Year, center Dikembe Mutombo.

Perhaps some thought Mutombo could contain O’Neal and give Philly at least a puncher’s chance at winning it all. But O’Neal said on his podcast, “The Big Podcast,” the plan was for Mutombo to guard him one-on-one, and he saw that as disrespectful.

“I like him, but it’s like a new rapper coming in and saying, ‘T.I.’s not a great rapper.’ Don’t disrespect me,” said Shaq. “During the Finals, Uncle Jerome (Crawford, O’Neal’s bodyguard) comes in and goes, ‘Hey, man, Mutombo says he’s Defensive Player of the Year, he don’t need no double-team.’ Don’t disrespect me by saying you gonna play me one-on-one. I take that as a sign of disrespect. So I’m looking at the paper, ‘I’m Defensive Player of the Year, I can play Shaq one-on-one.’ It’s a sign of disrespect. It’s like any new (expletive) rapper coming in and saying, ‘That (expletive) T.I. did ain’t all that.’ So I get it and the first play of the game I look: The (expletive) double ain’t coming. I said, ‘Oh OK. I’m knocking his (expletive) teeth outta his head…'”

The Sixers won Game 1 of that series despite 44 points and 20 rebounds from O’Neal, as Allen Iverson erupted for 48 points. Although they were competitive for much of the rest of the series, they ultimately fell to Los Angeles in five games.

O’Neal simply eviscerated Mutombo by averaging 33.0 points, 15.8 rebounds, 4.8 assists and 3.4 blocked shots a game in the series. At times, his sheer physicality was too much for the 7-foot-2, 260-pound Mutombo to handle.

While the Sixers earned praise across America for their heart and never-say-die attitude, the Lakers earned the Larry O’Brien Trophy and established the foundation for another dynasty.

4 Philadelphia 76ers named to most overpaid players in NBA history list

Four players in Philadelphia 76ers history have been named to the most overpaid players list in NBA history.

How much money NBA players make is a debate that rages among fans on an everyday basis. The fan base of every team discusses how much money a certain player makes and whether he actually deserves the contract he has.

The Philadelphia 76ers are not immune to that debate.

The folks over at HoopsHype have put together a metric to measure such issues. The real value metric was developed by HoopsHype analyst Alberto De Roa. In a recent HoopsHype article, authors Sam Yip Frank Urbina sorted the top 30 overpaid players in NBA history in terms of their real value.

There are four players on the list who have ties to the Sixers and they are:

Trevor Lawrence gives Steelers the Dikembe Mutombo finger-wag after amazing pass

Trevor Lawrence made an amazing throw against the Steelers, and added the Dikembe Mutombo finger-wag for good measure.

If there’s one thing we knew about the Jacksonville Jaguars this season, it’s that things wouldn’t possibly be as bad as they were last season under the “leadership” of one Urban Meyer. New head coach Doug Pederson had nowhere to go but up in everything from accountability to game-planning to roster management to game design, and so far, things are looking pretty good out there.

Things are looking especially good for quarterback Trevor Lawrence, the 2021 first-overall pick, who was thrown into a woodchipper by Meyer’s abhorrent coaching, and by the equally putrid efforts of former offensive designers Brian Schottenheimer and Darrell Bevell. Lawrence had so little to work with under that trio, it’s a miracle he made it out alive in a professional sense, and if he was shocked right out of the NFL, it wouldn’t have been a complete surprise.

Lawrence has more to him than that, though. Last week against the Browns, Lawrence completed six of 12 passes for 95 yards, a touchdown, and no interceptions. Baby steps to be sure, but there was enough to make you think that Pederson and his staff had things in store for Lawrence that would frustrate opposing defenses. That’s certainly what our own Laurie Fitzpatrick saw.

How Doug Pederson is already saving Trevor Lawrence from another disastrous season

Against the Steelers on Saturday, it didn’t take long for Lawrence to turn that speculation into reality. This throw to receiver Marvin Jones Jr. wasn’t just a dart across his body; it was also perfectly placed to sail over cornerback Cameron Sutton.

Not bad, if you can get away with it. And then, just to show that his confidence is just fine after what Meyer tried to do to it, Lawrence gave the Steelers the Dikembe Mutombo finger-wag, telling them to avoid that smoke.

As Mr. Mutombo would certainly say in this case, it ain’t boldness if you can back it up.

List of the sidekicks Sixers employed next to superstar Allen Iverson

Here is a list of the sidekicks the Philadelphia 76ers employed next to superstar Allen Iverson during his era.

When one remembers Philadelphia 76ers legend Allen Iverson, one will remember two things: his elite scoring ability and his willingness to put his body on the line every night and play through injury in order to help his team win.

Iverson averaged 27.6 points and 6.1 assists in his career for Philadelphia and he ended up winning four scoring titles. He won an MVP award in 2001 and he led the team to the NBA Finals in 2001.

What was even more impressive about Iverson’s run in 2001 was that he did so without a bonafide sidekick next to him. Philadelphia struggled to find the right Robin to Iverson’s Batman all throughout his career as they made moves that were expected to help The Answer get the Sixers to the top and Sixers Wire is going to list the sidekicks Iverson had in Philadelphia.

Which NBA players had the most blocks in their career?

Who has swatted the most shots in NBA history? Here are the league’s all-time blocks leaders.

The modern NBA is predicated on offense, with players pulling up from way beyond the 3-point line on a nightly basis. The emphasis on taking the ball to the rim has changed radically, as has the need to protect the rim. As such, the players in NBA history with the most career blocks feel like titans from another era.

The modern game has a few defensive stalwarts such as Giannis Antetokounmpo and Rudy Gobert. They know how to protect the rim at all costs. Still, the modern top dogs on defense don’t hold a candle to the Association’s greatest.

From fingering wagging and intense tempers to safety goggles and mild manners, the men with the most career blocks in NBA history have one thing in common: They know how to lock it down on defense.

4 former Sixers centers appear on list of top 20 centers in NBA history

There are four former Philadelphia 76ers centers who appear on the list of the top 20 centers in NBA history.

Some pretty terrific players have been a part of the Philadelphia 76ers history. Legends such as Allen Iverson and Julius Erving passed through the City of Brotherly Love and made an impact on the franchise and the league.

As the NBA celebrates its 75th season, lists honoring the best players in league history have been released. The most recent list released is focused on the big men.

The great people at HoopsHype put together a list of the top 20 centers in NBA history, and four former Sixers are on the list. Their ranking on the list will be next to their name:

Philadelphia 76ers in the 2000s decade: Dikembe Mutombo was a big help

We look back at the run Dikembe Mutombo had with the Philadelphia 76ers.

To pass the time until the 2021-22 season begins for the Philadelphia 76ers, we look back at some of the bigger players in the franchise’s recent history.

In this edition, we continue our focus on the 2000s and one of the team’s stars during the decade. This edition focuses on a big man who was acquired during their best playoff run in recent memory and who gave the team a big boost on the defensive end.

In the middle of the 2000-01 season, the Sixers acquired future Hall of Famer Dikembe Mutombo from the Atlanta Hawks in exchange for Theo Ratliff. While Ratliff was having a helluva season, he suffered a significant injury and his season was over after 50 games. This was a move Philadelphia needed to make and it paid off.

Mutombo ended up averaging 11.7 points, 12.4 rebounds and 2.4 blocks while helping MVP Allen Iverson get the Sixers into the NBA Finals that season. The veteran was a shot-blocking menace in the postseason: He averaged 3.1 blocks per game for the entire 2001 postseason.

Philadelphia took on the Los Angeles Lakers in the finals and they ended up winning Game 1 after a brilliant performance by Iverson, but they lost the next four as Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant proved to be a bit too much.

Mutombo then made an All-Star appearance for the Sixers in 2002 in a season where he averaged 11.5 points, 10.8 rebounds, and 2.4 blocks per game. The Sixers were unable to replicate their success from the previous season, but it was a solid run for the big man in Philadelphia.

Mutombo was traded to the New Jersey Nets in the ensuing offseason, netting Philadelphia Todd MacCulloch and Keith Van Horn. Mutombo helped the Nets make the finals in 2003 and he was then waived after the season was over. He finished his career with the New York Knicks and the Houston Rockets before retiring in 2008.

This post originally appeared on Sixers Wire! Follow us on Facebook!

[mm-video type=playlist id=01f09kz5ecxq9bp57b player_id=01f5k5xtr64thj7fw2 image=https://sixerswire.usatoday.com/wp-content/plugins/mm-video/images/playlist-icon.png]

[listicle id=50191]

Sixers Playoff Rewind: Aaron McKie, Dikembe Mutombo defeat Raptors

We wind the clocks back to 2001 when the Philadelphia 76ers knocked off the Toronto Raptors in Game 7.

[jwplayer 3TswHlh9-z6KDnl0B]

We continue our look back at some of the more memorable moments in the playoff history of the Philadelphia 76ers by winding the clock back to the 2001 semifinals. The Sixers and the Toronto Raptors were locked in an intense battle and it came down o Game 7 in Philadelphia.

Allen Iverson had been incredible this entire series as he put the entire franchise on his bony shoulders in order to put them in this position. On this day, it was time for his teammates to return the favor.

Iverson scored 21 points in Game 7, but he struggled mightily shooting just 8-for-27 from the floor and he had four turnovers. To help the cause, Aaron McKie scored 22 points and he had seven rebounds while big man Dikembe Mutombo added 10 points and 17 rebounds as Philadelphia outlasted Toronto 88-87 and advance to the Eastern Conference Finals.

The Sixers will now advance to take on the Milwaukee Bucks who figure to give Philadelphia an even tougher battle with their own Big 3 of Ray Allen, Sam Cassell, and Glenn Robinson. [lawrence-related id=39466,39463,39460]

Texans star J.J. Watt nods to former Rockets center Dikembe Mutombo

After breaking up a career-high four passes in Sunday’s win, Watt tweeted a GIF of Mutombo, who ranks No. 2 all-time in blocked NBA shots.

Houston Texans defensive end J.J. Watt did not record a sack in his team’s 27-20 victory over the New England Patriots on Sunday at NRG Stadium. However, he still managed to make quite an impact.

Facing Patriots quarterback Cam Newton, Watt collected four pass breakups, which represented for a new career high for the three-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year. It also gave the Texans (3-7) just their third victory in 10 contests so far in the NFL’s 2020 football season.

To put in statistical perspective how impressive Watt’s afternoon was, he entered Sunday with three pass breakups over the first nine games by the Texans this season. In 2019, Watt had three in eight games, and he registered four over an entire 16-game season in 2018.

Watt then went to Twitter after the game and posted a GIF of former Houston Rockets center Dikembe Mutombo swatting cereal boxes away from a shopping cart. (It’s from an older GEICO commercial.)

Watt was drafted by Houston in 2011, and he’s become somewhat of a regular attendee at Rockets’ games during the long football offseasons.

Mutombo ranks second in NBA history with 3,289 career blocks, trailing only Hakeem Olajuwon (also of the Rockets, of course). Besides his paint presence, Mutombo also became well known for his distinctive “finger wag” to opponents and the crowd after many of those blocks.

Mutombo played in Houston for the final five seasons of his Hall of Fame career, from the 2004-05 season through the 2009 playoffs. The Rockets made the playoffs in four of those five seasons, including the 2009 squad that became the first Houston team to win a playoff series in 12 years.

[lawrence-related id=3574,4154]

Ryan Mutombo follows in father’s footsteps, commits to Georgetown

Ryan Mutombo, son of Dikembe Mutombo, has committed to Georgetown.

Ryan Mutombo has decided to play in his father’s footsteps and play his college basketball for Patrick Ewing at Georgetown.

Mutombo, son of Georgetown legend and eight-time NBA All-Star Dikembe Mutombo, committed to the Hoyas on Sunday night. Mutombo ultimately picked Georgetown over programs such as Florida State, Georgia, Tennessee and Stanford.

“Legit size with long arms and a sturdy frame,” 247Sports’ Evan Daniels said in Mutombo’s scouting report. “Has terrific hands & touch around the basket. Good feel as a passer out of the high post and on the block. Shot the ball from the mid-range area with confidence, and mechanics are fine. Impressive feel for the game and a high IQ. Good area rebounder and rim protector. Lacks lift and just gets end-to-end OK. True low post player. A late bloomer with major upside.”

According to 247Sports, Mutombo is the No. 71 recruit in the class of 2021, No. 13 center and No. 3 prospect in Georgia. He is also the fourth commitment in Georgetown’s 2021 recruiting class, joining Tyler Beard, Jalin Billingsley and Jordan Riley.