Dikembe Mutombo, the Basketball Hall of Famer known as much for his finger wagging and singular voice as his defensive prowess, passed away Monday at the age of 58 after a battle with brain cancer.
The Congolese-American player nicknamed “Mt. Mutombo” was a global ambassador for the sport and prolific humanitarian who who donated millions of dollars to build a hospital in his home town, the Congolese capital of Kinshasa.
At 7 feet 2 inches, Mutombo held down the paint as one of the league’s best-ever defenders and shot blockers. As an Adidas athlete, he served as a rare exception to the rule that big men can’t sell shoes with his namesake model still counting among the most eccentric signature models in the history of the sport.
In a statement after his death, Adidas said: “We are deeply saddened by the passing of our dear friend, Dikembe Mutombo. He was respected and loved by so many for his skills on the court and the impact he left off the court. Dikembe was a trailblazing humanitarian who believed in the brotherhood of basketball, using his platform to promote cultural exchange from Africa to the world, furthering the game and human rights with equal fervor. We are grateful for his legacy that will continue to inspire us for generations to come.”
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Below, Footwear News takes a look back at Mutombo’s sneaker legacy, including his Adidas contract and the iconic Adidas Mutombo.
Dikembe Mutombo’s Adidas Contract
In the early ’90s, Adidas was struggling in the U.S. The company’s American sales were flat at around $225 million per year compared to $3.4 billion for Nike and $2.7 billion for Reebok. Robert Strasser, the former Nike executive who helped launch the Air Jordan line and was almost single-minded in trying to take down the German rival, was named chief executive in 1993 for a new Adidas America subsidiary in Portland. Along with him came as creative director came Peter Moore, designer of the Air Jordan 1 and the Nike Dunk.
Mutombo entered the NBA in 1991 as the 4th overall pick for the Denver Nuggets after playing for Georgetown University under the legendary coach John Thompson. Having graduated with a degree in linguistics and diplomacy, Mutombo only played three seasons of NCAA basketball because he spent his freshman year playing intramural hoops before being recruited by Thompson.
Nike sneakers graced the feet of Mutombo for the majority of his rookie season, as they did in college, until he signed a deal with Adidas worth more than $1 million putting his compensation in line with Michael Jordan. His agent, Sony Vaccaro said in a newspaper story announcing the deal: “The one thing Dikembe has is he can have a signature line. That’s the key. The merchandise bears his own logo and brand, and he gets back royalties from these particular items. To get royalties is a major cause.”
Mutombo instantly became the face for Adidas Basketball when it had fallen dramatically behind the sport. The ’90s marked a golden era for big men in the NBA, but Patrick Ewing had already left Adidas in 1989 and launched his own label, Ewing Athletics. Reebok locked down Shaquille O’Neal in 1992, and Nike released signature models for David Robinson and Charles Barkley during the time period in addition to the star of all stars, of course, in Jordan.
In the lead-up to the release of his first signature sneaker, the first of many memorable Mutombo ads (from Adidas and otherwise) aired him with him preparing to block a shot beneath the rim with a soundtrack of drums and the sound of an airplane. “Man does not fly in the house of Mutombo,” he said in a deep voice that became even more gravely with age. The ad is widely seen as a subliminal shot at Jordan and Nike, given the language of flight they’d used since the genesis of the Air Jordan line.
Details of Mutombo leaving Adidas have been lost to history, but in 1998 he began playing in Nike sneakers once again — which he’d continue to do until his retirement in 2009.
The Adidas Mutombo
Designed by Moore, the Adidas Mutombo launched in 1993 for $80 during the center’s second season in the NBA. The bulky high top was made to support Mutombo’s massive frame — he wore a size 22 shoe — and was deeply personal, especially for its time, through a number of elements invoking his home country of Congo (then known as Zaire).
The Adidas Mutombo’s launch colorway mixing black and white with green, red and yellow represented the Zairian Flag but can also be seen as an invocation of that of the Pan-African movement. A beefy tongue hosts a shield logo making use of both the letter “M” and Mutombo’s no. 55, and the shoe’s sidewall is defined by a geometric pattern pulling from the cut-pile raffia textiles of the Kingdom of Bakuba, which sat at the heart of Congo in the 17th to 19th century.
In a 2013 interview with Sole Collector looking back on the shoe’s history, Mutombo said: “I remember the designing process and how much I was involved. adidas wanted to find the true identity of Mutombo, where I come from, and something that would represent my country of birth. They wanted to represent the African continent and what I stood for as a player. It was about representing me as a defensive player and my shot blocking career, as someone who always protected. And that’s what it’s about. The shield is about protecting my kingdom.”
The Afrocentric look of the Adidas Mutombo was well timed, as colors and patterns from the continent grew more popular in a ’90s America in part because of streetwear and hip-hop. This trend could be seen in brands such as Cross Colours and acts including A Tribe Called Quest and Brand Nubian. On the inner cover for the album “Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers),” Raekwon can even be seen wearing the Adidas Mutombo while the rest of the members are wearing boots.
A second, more performance-driven Adidas Mutombo 2 followed in 1994 but was not received nearly as well as the first and would end up being Mutombo’s last.
Adidas brought back the original Mutombo as a retro for the first time in 2013 to commemorate the shoe’s anniversary. It also reissued the Mutombo 2 a year later, but once again the fanfare was much more muted compared to its predecessor.
More than 30 years since the Adidas Mutombo entered the world, it remains one of the most particular and personally-driven signature sneakers to grace the hardwood. By focusing on telling the story of Mutombo, the shoe’s bold pattern and colors have more in-common with the lifestyle-driven shoes that would emerge with the rise of sneaker culture in 2000s than the other performance basketball models of the time.
About the Author:
Ian Servantes is a Senior News Editor for Footwear News specializing in sneaker coverage. He’s previously reported on streetwear and sneakers at Input and Highsnobiety after beginning his career on the pop culture beat. He subscribes to the idea that “ball is life” and doesn’t fuss over his kicks getting dirty.
