Mutombo beginning treatment on brain tumor

Dikembe Mutombo is undergoing attraction for a encephalon tumor, the NBA announced Saturday connected behalf of the Hall of Fame halfway and his family.

The NBA said successful a connection that Mutombo -- who ranks 2nd successful NBA past for vocation blocks -- is opening attraction successful Atlanta and is successful "great spirits."

"Dikembe and his household inquire for privateness during this clip truthful they tin absorption connected his care," the league said. "They are grateful for your prayers and bully wishes."

Mutombo, 56, played 18 NBA seasons for the Denver Nuggets, Atlanta Hawks, Philadelphia 76ers, New Jersey Nets, New York Knicks and Houston Rockets earlier retiring aft the 2008-09 season.

He was the league's apical antiaircraft subordinate 4 times, earned 3 All-NBA selections and played successful 8 All-Star games implicit 18 seasons. Mutombo ranks 17th successful rebounds (12,359) and finished with 3,289 vocation blocks, 2nd to Hakeem Olajuwon (3,830). Mutombo followed astir blocks with a playful wag of his close scale finger, a motion that became his enduring signature.

Following his playing career, Mutombo has worked extensively for charitable and humanitarian causes. He has served arsenic an ambassador for the sport, peculiarly successful the improvement of the Basketball Africa League, which completed its 2nd play successful May.

Mutombo was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame successful 2015. He had precocious appeared astatine Hall of Fame enshrinement events successful Springfield, Massachusetts, arsenic good arsenic a brace of preseason games successful Saitama, Japan. Mutombo besides appeared with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken astatine an lawsuit successful the Congo, Mutombo's autochthonal country, successful August.

Blinken lauded Mutombo erstwhile they were together, telling him, "You've done truthful overmuch to bring the satellite together."

Mutombo speaks 9 languages and founded the Dikembe Mutombo Foundation successful 1997, concentrating connected improving health, acquisition and prime of beingness for the radical successful the Congo. His instauration led the gathering of a 170-bed infirmary successful Kinshasa, the superior city, and that installation has treated astir a half-million radical careless of their quality to wage for care.

He besides has served connected the boards of galore organizations, including Special Olympics International, the CDC Foundation and the National Board for the U.S. Fund for UNICEF.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.