Former Houston Rockets player Dikembe Mutombo was at the Brussels Airport when suicide bombers attacked early Tuesday.
Bombs struck the Brussels airport and one of the city's metro stations Tuesday, killing at least 31 people and wounding dozens, as a European capital was again locked down amid heightened security threats.
The two airport blasts, at least one of which was blamed on a suicide bomber, left behind a chaotic scene of splattered blood in the departure lounge as windows were blown out, ceilings collapsed and travelers streamed out of the smoky building.
About an hour later, another bomb exploded on a rush-hour subway train near the European Union headquarters. Terrified passengers had to evacuate through darkened tunnels to safety.
ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack.
Mutombo was at the airport when it all happened. He announced to his Facebook fans that he was not harmed.
(function(d, s, id) { var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; if (d.getElementById(id)) return; js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.src = "//connect.facebook.net/en_US/sdk.js#xfbml=1&version=v2.3"; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs);}(document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk'));
God is good. I am in Brussels Airport with this craziness. I am fine.
Posted by Dikembe Mutombo on Tuesday, March 22, 2016
Another post read, "Thank you everyone. I am safe here. God is good."
(function(d, s, id) { var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; if (d.getElementById(id)) return; js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.src = "//connect.facebook.net/en_US/sdk.js#xfbml=1&version=v2.3"; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs);}(document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk'));
Thank you everyone. I am safe here. God is good.
Posted by Dikembe Mutombo on Tuesday, March 22, 2016
Mutombo played 18 seasons in the NBA, including five years with the Rockets, playing as a reserve behind Yao Ming. Ming and Mutombo formed one of the NBA's most productive center combos.
In his first season with the Rockets, Mutombo averaged 15.2 MPG, 5.3 RPG, and 4.0 PPG. He averaged a double-double for most of his career, and is 12th all-time in career double-doubles,and tied for second all-time in career triple doubles involving points, rebounds and blocks.
Dikembe Mutombo Career Per-Game Stats | PointAfter
Dikembe Mutombo Career Points, Rebounds and Blocks per Game | PointAfter
Mutombo is commonly regarded as one of the greatest shot blockers and defensive players of all time, winning the NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award four times; he was also an eight-time All-Star.
On January 10, 2007, he surpassed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as the second most prolific shot blocker in NBA history, behind only Hakeem Olajuwon. Mutombo appeared in a Geico auto insurance commercial in February 2013, parodying his shot-blocking ability by applying it to real world situations
Outside of basketball, he has become known for his humanitarian work.
Mutombo started the Dikembe Mutombo Foundation to improve living conditions in his native Democratic Republic of Congo in 1997. His efforts earned him the NBA's J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award in 2001 and 2009. For his feats, Sporting News named him as one of the "Good Guys in Sports" in 1999 and 2000, and in 1999, he was elected as one of 20 winners of the President's Service Awards, the nation's highest honor for volunteer service.