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[espn.com] Mutombo says enough to questioning his age

Discussion in 'Houston Rockets: Game Action & Roster Moves' started by LFE171, Jan 18, 2007.

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  1. LFE171

    LFE171 Member

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    Didnt see this posted yet. delete thread if it already exists.

    http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=2735070

    Mutombo says enough to questioning his age
    By Marc Stein
    ESPN.com

    After 16 seasons in the NBA, nearly 3,200 blocked shots, eight All-Star appearances and four Defensive Player of the Year awards, Dikembe Mutombo has had enough.

    Cracks about Mutombo actually being older than he says have been circulating since his college days at Georgetown ... and he's laughed along for years.

    But that changed recently when family members began taking offense to the regularity of such jokes during television broadcasts. Mutombo told ESPN.com this week that it's reached the point that he plans to seek out NBA commissioner David Stern for advice on how to at least stop TV commentators from openly accusing the league's oldest active player of misrepresenting his birthdate.

    "My wife [Rose] just mentioned that to me a few days ago," the Congo-born Mutombo said in his unmistakably deep voice. "She said: 'Honey, I think this joke has gone on too long and it has to stop. Is there a way you can tell the commissioner during the All-Star break to let the world know that this thing needs to stop, from a media standpoint all the way to the players?'

    "It really doesn't disturb me, but it hurts when your wife starts feeling uncomfortable about it. Even my daughter [Carrie] says, 'Daddy, why are they talking about your age?' She's nine years old and she knows about it.

    "When people think your father is a liar, it makes you look bad in front of your children," Mutombo said. "Kids don't know when it's a joke and when it's not a joke. It never bothered me before, but it starts bothering me more as I'm getting questions from my wife [and] especially my daughter. She left me a voice message in the middle of a game [recently that said], 'Daddy, they're talking about your age on TV. That's not funny.' "

    Mutombo's frustration comes at a time, ironically, when his on-court production is generating talk about how much game he still has left. Before managing just eight rebounds in Wednesday night's home loss to Phoenix, Mutombo had pulled in 10 or more rebounds in 11 straight games since taking over as the Rockets' starting center in place of the injured Yao Ming.

    It is Mutombo's longest such streak since the 2000-01 season. The only other fortysomething in NBA history with a similar streak longer than five games is Robert Parish, who reached double figures in rebounds in six straight games for Boston in January 1994. Minnesota's Kevin Garnett is the only other player in the league this season with at least 10 rebounds in 10 straight games.

    "[Mutombo] has found the Fountain of Youth," Rockets teammate Shane Battier told the Houston Chronicle last week.

    Said Mutombo: "Rebounding the way I've been rebounding... I didn't know I still have so much left in the tank. You wonder yourself because it's my 16th season. Still having this type of performance, it makes you feel so good about yourself, physically and mentally."

    Yet Mutombo says he's serious about trying to hush the jokes, which he traces to playing his rookie season in Denver in 1991-92 as a 25-year-old. He was already 21 when he left the Democratic Republic of Congo (then known as Zaire) to attend Georgetown in 1987.

    It has already been a very newsy season for Mutombo, who donated $15 million in August for the completion of a hospital in Congo in his late mother's honor. It's the first modern medical facility in Mutombo's homeland to be built in some 40 years.

    He found himself at the center of a much more unsavory controversy in late October when an Orlando Magic fan taunted Mutombo with racial slurs during a preseason game, leading to the fan's ban by the league from attending any NBA game for the entire 2006-07 season.

    But the focus is back on the floor with Houston going 9-4 without Yao and Mutombo, after playing a bit-part backup role over the past two-plus seasons, logging nearly 32 minutes per game in January. With Yao sidelined by a leg injury, he's responded by averaging 6.1 points, 13.9 rebounds and 1.8 blocks this month.

    Mutombo has succeeded in convincing league officials to let him persist with his trademark finger-wagging after blocked shots -- as long as he directs that gesture toward a section of the crowd without wagging his finger in the direction of an opponent -- and believes Stern will be sympathetic to his anti-joke crusade, too.

    "The commissioner and I are good friends," Mutombo said. "I will find a way somehow to talk to him.

    "He's a great man. He can make it stop."
     
    #1 LFE171, Jan 18, 2007
  2. DaDakota

    DaDakota Balance wins
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    Fair enough.....he has earned the respect of everyone, the jokes should stop....

    DD
     
    #2 DaDakota, Jan 18, 2007
  3. Tigerknee

    Tigerknee Member

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    What exactly are they joking about here?
     
    #3 Tigerknee, Jan 18, 2007
  4. LFE171

    LFE171 Member

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    accusing that he's much older than 40? :confused:
     
    #4 LFE171, Jan 18, 2007
  5. Ehsan

    Ehsan Member

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    What are you talking about? What about free speech? America's a free country, anyone can speculate on whatever they want. Even if he brings out official documents people will say they're not authentic or they've fake.

    Whatever.

    I'm on Mutombo's side, but you know that's going to be the standpoint of many and I think it's absolutely ridiculous.

    This is not game action or roster move related, so I think it should be moved? It's going to turn into a debate for sure.
     
    #5 Ehsan, Jan 18, 2007
  6. aeroman10

    aeroman10 Member

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    Bill Worrell, Matt Bullard and Clyde are guilty.
     
    #6 aeroman10, Jan 18, 2007
  7. Tigerknee

    Tigerknee Member

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    Doesn't make any sense. He's performing like he's 30 :)
     
    #7 Tigerknee, Jan 18, 2007
  8. Sextuple Double

    Sextuple Double Rookie

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    Everybody in the 40's gets cracked on about their age(88yr old Julio Franco) When we hear the 56yr old Mutombo is pwning the paint we all smile and watch our ageless wonder. It shouldn't be taken seriously.
     
    #8 Sextuple Double, Jan 18, 2007
  9. barryxzz

    barryxzz Member

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    It's not up to the people who make the jokes to determine whether it should be taken seriously; it should be the people, whom the jokes are on, who decide whether it's funny or not. That's why one can always make fun of himself, but one should be careful when s/he joke about others.
     
    #9 barryxzz, Jan 18, 2007
  10. Hayesfan

    Hayesfan Member

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    I don't think Deke took it seriously until it started bothering his family.

    Joking is okay until the person says enough is enough. That's his right. He's not going to be able to completely stop it, but it will let people know that if it continues that you are being disrespectful to his wishes.

    I would imagine now that they know it is bothering Deke's wife and daughter, Bullard and Worell won't be making the comments as much anymore.
     
    #10 Hayesfan, Jan 18, 2007
  11. CharlieMurphy

    CharlieMurphy Member

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    How is it absolutely ridiculous? He's just asking for news reporters, journalists, and commentators to stop, which is reasonable considering it's beginning to bother his family. It'll be very unprofessional if they continue to do so. I doubt Mutumbo would care if we joked about his age here on the bbs. But if he wishes it to stop then I say we should respect it.
     
    #11 CharlieMurphy, Jan 18, 2007
  12. Dave_78

    Dave_78 Member

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    When is he going to ask David Stern to tell Clyde Drexler to stop doing the impression of Mutombo using a Jamaican accent?
     
    #12 Dave_78, Jan 18, 2007
  13. rrj_gamz

    rrj_gamz Member

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    I can see how this can get old after awhile...They've always said this and once it affects family, then he has a right to ask...

    I mean, if Puff daddy, pdiddy can ask people to call him a differnent name, well so can Deke...
     
    #13 rrj_gamz, Jan 18, 2007
  14. Aruba77

    Aruba77 Member

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    It's pretty simple. He used to not care about it because it was a harmless joke, now it's starting to resemble slander because it's negatively impacting his family. He's being perfectly reasonable in appealing to the media to stop reporting these inaccuracies.

    BTW: what a class act Deke is. Just love the guy.
     
    #14 Aruba77, Jan 18, 2007
  15. DJ

    DJ Member

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    It has gotten to me to. It seems as if everytime Dikembe Mutombo plays a great game, everyone is saying along the lines "...good for a 50 yr old." I mean come on guys, saying the same thing over and over and over is just plain out stupid (except the Sura faint joke.)
     
    #15 DJ, Jan 18, 2007
  16. opticon

    opticon Member

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    off topic but could someone post a link or exaplain the meaning behind this whole sura faint joke. I see it all time but i have no idea about the back story behind it that makes it funny.
     
    #16 opticon, Jan 18, 2007
  17. YallMean

    YallMean Member

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    Does anybody why was this joke about Deke's age started? Was it because he couldnt show his birth certificate?
    You know in lots of parts of this world birth documentation is not done promptly when there are othert things to worry about for the parents. Often times, parents report the birth of their child years later when they need to go to school and sometimes the dates are not accurate.

    If this is really about Deke's birth certificate, the joke is really bad taste IMO.
     
    #17 YallMean, Jan 18, 2007
  18. pgabriel

    pgabriel Educated Negro

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    so its absolutely ridiculous that he says what he wants but totally within everyone's rights to say what they want.

    and its not absolutely a right to comment on whatever you want. ever heard of slander? you can't just say anything about a public figure if you don't have evidence.
     
    #18 pgabriel, Jan 18, 2007
  19. pgabriel

    pgabriel Educated Negro

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    that has nothing to do with it. foreigners from third world countires like African nations or latin nations who play sports in this country often have their ages questioned because quite frankly some of them are older than they claim. especially in baseball.
     
    #19 pgabriel, Jan 18, 2007
    Last edited: Jan 18, 2007
  20. ClutchCityReturns

    ClutchCityReturns Member

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    He asked that commentators and players stop joking about it. People who are more or less payed by the NBA, which is a business. You can't just go around joking openly that you think your coworker, Karla, might actually be Karl, if you know what I mean. That will get you fired pretty quickly.

    Bottom line: not everything falls under "freedom of speech".

    When it comes to journalists, he is simply asking them not to joke about it. I'm sure he can't make them stop. But any journalist worth his weight in newspaper isn't going to blatantly disrespect a guy like Mutombo. I'm sure they just never realized it was a problem, and now that they know, they will avoid it.
     
    #20 ClutchCityReturns, Jan 18, 2007
    Last edited: Jan 18, 2007
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