Dikembe Mutombo is one of the most iconic centers of all time. He has won four Defensive Player of the Year awards during his career. Obviously, the primary reason Mutombo won his DPOY awards was due to his shot-blocking ability, and Mutombo is definitely in the conversation as the best rim protector ever.
One of the reasons that Dikembe Mutombo became an icon was due to his “finger wag” celebration, which he did at opponents after rejecting one of their shots. Once, Mutombo revealed that commissioner David Stern actually asked him to stop the celebration, but Mutombo refused, saying that it comes “naturally”.
“Back then, I didn’t really care how much money they were fining me. I know it was $5,000 for every technical foul. For a few years, I let the NBA give me a technical foul, but my technical fouls weren’t, like, me going after the referee or cursing. I was just having fun.
I remember Uncle David [Stern], our late commissioner, used to call me all the time and say, ‘Deke! What’s going on? Can you stop? Can you stop?’ and I said, ‘David, I can’t. It’s just coming naturally.’
It got to the point where there were so many coaches complaining, and he told me, ‘You know what? You can just do it. We’re not going to fine you anymore. Just make sure you look at the fans when you’re doing it.’ It took the NBA like 15 years before they changed their mind about it.”
The finger wag celebration was obviously iconic, and we have seen many other athletes do it when celebrating their own achievements. It seems as though that happened once again today.
Coco Gauff Pays Homage To Dikembe Mutombo
The 2022 US Open is a tennis tournament, but it seems as though a lot of NBA players and fans are also watching it. We have seen some reactions from players towards Serena Williams’ last game and retirement already.
Coco Gauff’s recent celebration will obviously be recognizable to NBA fans. She recently hit the Dikembe Mutombo finger wag after finishing her match against Zhang Shuai.
She hit em with the Mutombo 🥶@CocoGauff | @officialmutombo | #USOpen pic.twitter.com/dc9cwvNlUq
— US Open Tennis (@usopen) September 4, 2022
There is no doubt that it’s good to see NBA celebrations in other sports. It is clear that a lot of other athletes respect NBA players enough to do their celebrations when they win.
Perhaps we will see even more athletes do the Dikembe Mutombo finger wag celebration in the future. It is definitely a great way to put on a little bit of a show for the fans.
