Michael Jordan is not only the greatest basketball player to have ever lived but also one of the most ferocious dunkers the game has ever seen. Jordan became a cultural icon due to his dunking prowess before he became a serial winner. There’s a reason the ‘Jumpman’ logo is one of the most iconic basketball images in the world.
The best dunkers posterize even the greatest defenders of all time. Jordan has iconic dunks on towering legends like David Robinson, Shaquille O’Neal, Patrick Ewing, Hakeem Olajuwon, and more. But for most of his career, dunking on multiple-time Defensive Player of the Year Dikembe Mutombo was something that he couldn’t pull off.
Mutombo knew this and teased Jordan about it repeatedly, starting at the 1996 All-Star weekend. He brought it up again at the 1997 All-Star weekend, where Ewing was shocked to hear that MJ never put Mutombo on a highlight. Later that season, that’s exactly what would happen.
MJ was a menace pic.twitter.com/O3UKasLbMu
— Jasmine (@JasmineLWatkins) December 30, 2022
The fact that there is crystal clear footage of these legends of the game discussing how MJ never dunked on Mutombo just for MJ to do it later that season seems too perfect. But with a lot of things Michael Jordan did in the NBA, perfection wasn’t far-fetched. Hitting Mutombo with the finger wag was the cherry on top of an already stellar moment.
Michael Jordan And Dikembe Mutombo’s Underrated Rivalry
When people think of rivalries that Michael Jordan had, there are many names that come to the top of the list. Isiah Thomas is arguably the most notable rival, along with the likes of Larry Bird, Patrick Ewing, Karl Malone, and John Stockton, along with many others. However, his rivalry with Mutombo can get lost in that rich history.
Mutombo and Jordan faced each other 18 times in the regular season, with MJ winning 12 of the contests. Jordan once scored 50 on Mutombo when the center still played for the Denver Nuggets. Jordan averaged 31.2 points against Dikembe in the regular season, higher than his career scoring average of 30.1 points.
Mutombo averaged 2.9 blocks across these 18 games, similar to his career average of 2.8 blocks per game.
They only faced each other in the playoffs once, in 1997, where the Bulls beat the Hawks 4-1 in the Conference Semi-Finals. Jordan’s playoff scoring average of 33.4 points dropped to 26.6 against Mutombo’s Hawks, with his FG% also dropping from a career playoff average of 48.7% to 45.4%.
Dikembe’s presence in the post took away a part of MJ’s game, but he persevered through to impact the game through his own defense and rebounding.
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