Dikembe Mutombo, Basketball Hall of Fame member and NBA global ambassador, has died at the age of 58.

Former President Barack Obama said Mutombo’s legacy will live on forever, as more athletes use their names and resources to improve the lives of others.

“Dikembe Mutombo was a great basketball player – one of the best shot blockers and defensive players of all time.” Obama said in a statement. “But he also inspired a generation of young people across Africa, and his work as the NBA’s first global ambassador changed the way athletes think about their impact off the court. Michelle and I are thinking of Dikembe’s family and everyone who knew and loved him.” “

Mutombo 3289 shots rejected, The second-most in NBA history, during a long career that included stops in Denver, Atlanta, Philadelphia, New Jersey, New York and Houston.

Many of those blocked shots were followed by the dreaded finger wag, telling opponents it was in their best interest not to shoot the basketball within reach of the 7-foot-2 star.

Mutombo was named the NBA’s Defensive Player of the Year Four times.

Younger fans who may not have been familiar with Mutombo’s NBA career (1991-2009) were introduced to him shaking his finger during a Geico Insurance advertisement Which showed his blocks and sarcasm in a comical way.

After a career protecting the rim and sending doses back where they came from, Mutombo has dedicated his life to charitable health care efforts in his native Democratic Republic of Congo and other developing countries.

The emergency room, intensive care unit and 150 beds at Byamba Marie Mutombo Hospital began serving patients in Kinshasa, the capital of his homeland, when it opened in December 2007.

“What I care about is combatting mortality so we can allow people to live longer,” he told NBC News in 2016. “That’s been my cause, my motivation.”

NBA Commissioner Silver described him as “simply larger than life” and “humanitarian to his core.”

“On the court, he was one of the greatest shot blockers and defensive players in NBA history,” Silver said. “From the ground, he poured his heart and soul out to help others.”

Dikembe Mutombo Mbolondo Mukamba was born Jean-Jacques Wamutumbo in Kinshasa on June 25, 1966.

He came to Georgetown hoping to become a doctor, but his massive frame caught the attention of everyone on campus, including basketball coach John Thompson.

the Future Hall of Fame coachwho developed future NBA big man Patrick Ewing and had Alonzo Smith on campus, convinced Mutombo to turn his attention to the hardwood.

Mutombo parlayed his play at Georgetown to become the fourth overall pick of the Denver Nuggets in the 1991 NBA draft.

Mutombo received his bachelor’s degree in 1991 and then an honorary doctorate from Georgetown University in 2010.

“From his prolific college career and professional basketball career to his tireless work after retirement to improve the lives of those in need of better health and better opportunities, he lived Georgetown’s values ​​in a way that we will always hold with great respect and pride,” Georgetown Vice President Joseph Ferrara said in a statement.

“His passing represents a tremendous loss to the Georgetown community, and indeed to the United States, Congo and everywhere else where he uplifted those around him.”

As a professional, Mutombo His deepest playoff run came in 2001 when he and Georgetown teammates Allen Iverson led the Philadelphia 76ers to the NBA Finals before losing to the Los Angeles Lakers led by Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal.

“It is a sad day, especially for us Africans and the whole world.” 76ers and Cameroon center Joel Embiid He told reporters on Monday shortly after learning of Mutombo’s death.

“Other than what he accomplished on the basketball court, I think he was even better off the court.”