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Dikembe Mutombo teared up when Hawks announced franchise will retire his jersey

Courtesy of USA Today Images

Dikembe Mutombo was already celebrating a tremendous honor, but the NBA legend didn’t know “Dikembe Mutombo Day” was about to get better.

According to Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Atlanta Hawks CEO Steve Koonin announced the franchise will retire Mutombo’s No. 55 jersey during the 2015 campaign. The news surprised Mutombo, who had a touching reaction to the news:

“The most surprising, as you can see from the tears in my eyes, is the announcement that was made. It’s the most shocking to me. … I didn’t know the Hawks were going to retire my jersey. I can’t believe it. It’s going to be a great day.”

Koonin said the ceremony will take place on Nov. 24, which is a nationally televised matchup (TNT) against the Boston Celtics.

Quite frankly, Atlanta retiring Mutombo’s jersey is truly a surprise. The 7’2″ center played 18 seasons overall and is completely deserving of the Hall of Fame nod he’s set to receive next week, but Mutombo wasn’t exactly a stalwart on the Hawks roster.

He spent parts of five seasons with the franchise and finished his Atlanta tenure as the single-season record-holder in only three defensive categories—rebounds, rating and win shares—but had no career marks.

That’s not to say “Mt. Mutombo” wasn’t productive for the Hawks, though.

Mutombo appeared in 343 games and tallied 11.9 points, 12.6 rebounds and 3.2 blocks per outing. He earned All-Star nods in 1997, 1998, 2000 and 2001, was first-team All-Defensive in 1997 and 1998 and third-team All-NBA in 1998.

Other former Atlanta players—like Kevin Willis and John Drew—may be more deserving, but Mutombo will join Bob Pettit (9), Dominique Wilkins (21), Lou Hudson (23) and former owner Ted Turner in the Philips Arena rafters.

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