Fansided

The NBA sidekick Hall of Fame

By Bryan Harvey

Lakers' (l to r) Pau Gasol, Lamar Odom, Kobe Bryant and Shannon Brown during the game. LA Lakers vs San Antonio Spurs at Staples Center on Apr. 12, 2011. (Photo by Lawrence K. Ho/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
Lakers' (l to r) Pau Gasol, Lamar Odom, Kobe Bryant and Shannon Brown during the game. LA Lakers vs San Antonio Spurs at Staples Center on Apr. 12, 2011. (Photo by Lawrence K. Ho/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images) /
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Photo by Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE via Getty Images /

Dikembe Mutombo

Dikembe Mutombo lying on his back clutching a basketball after having just defeated the Seattle SuperSonics is an unforgettable image of pure basketball joy. Mutombo averaging 16.6 points and 15.6 rebounds per game in an Eastern Conference Finals against the Milwaukee Bucks should be on par with that.

Finger wag on all of us for believing Allen Iverson’s 30.5 points and 6.8 assists a night were enough on their own for that Sixers team to reach the Finals. They were a lot, but they weren’t enough.

Even in the Finals, Mutombo averaged 16.8 points and 12.2 boards per game in a supporting role. He was 34 and brittle at this point in his career, but he played his heart out against a then 28-year-old Shaquille O’Neal. During the series, Mutombo logged 208 minutes; his two backup centers totaled a combined 85 minutes.

What Iverson did with that team was miraculous, but the problem with that team also wasn’t Mutombo. The problem was not having another player who could consistently play at some level on par with Mutombo or at some level between what he and Iverson were each accomplishing. Mutombo can’t be faulted for the absence of such a player, and the absence of such a player shouldn’t permit his efforts to be forgotten. That was a two-man team and Aaron McKie.

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