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 jungle 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.