Rest In Power: Notable Black Folks Who We’ve Lost In 2024

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UPDATED: 10:55 a.m. ET., September 30th, 2024

As we’ve come to understand year after year, day after day even, death is unfortunately an inevitable part of life. Still, as much of a fact as that may be, the blow of experiencing loss never gets any easier, nor does reporting on the subject in Black culture.

NBA Hall of Famer Dikembe Mutombo today (September 30th) at the age of 58 from brain cancer.

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Mutombo was born in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo. Due to his height, Mutombo began playing Basketball and moved to the United States in 1987 at the age of 21 to enroll in Georgetown University. While he was a standout basketball player at Georgetown with fellow hall of famer Alonzo Mourning, he graduated with bachelor’s degrees in linguistics and diplomacy.

Mutombo was selected fourth overall by the Denver Nuggets in the 1991 NBA Draft and immediately became one of the NBA’s best defensive players. In the 1994 playoffs. led by Mutombo, the Nuggets made history when they defeated the Seattle Supersonics. After falling to an 0–2 deficit in the five-game series, Denver won three straight games to pull off a major upset, becoming the first 8th-seeded team in NBA History to beat a number 1 seed.

Mutombo was a six-time member of the NBA’s All-Defensive Team and retired as the second all-time leader in blocked shots. He was also an eight-time NBA All-Star and won the NBA Defensive Player of the Year award four times. Beyond basketball, Mutombo is known for his humanitarian efforts and contributions to various charitable causes.

Learn more below about who in our culture has passed away so far this year in 2024 Below

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