There are people out there dying every day, so when you wake up, you just have to thank the Man Upstairs for another day on this planet. There's not much else we can ask for.

After spending more than 17 years playing for the NBA, in the summertime, I always came back to community service and different basketball clinics.

When I travel around the globe, I try as hard as I can to represent the NBA and the game of basketball to the best of my abilities. I get to go around the world and not only share the game but also my philanthropic work. Building a hospital in the Congo is one of the proudest achievements of my life.

Scores of Congolese die each day unnecessarily due to the lack of access to healthcare and modern medicine.

I am not in politics. 'President Mutombo?' No, no, no. There has never been a politician in my family, and I am not going to try to be the first one.

I usually just speak in English when I'm on the basketball court. For some reason, my mind never even tried to cross any other language when I'm playing basketball.

I remember when I came into the NBA, eighteen years ago, there were maybe nine to twelve international players playing in the NBA. Today we've got more than 85, so that tells you how our game has grown at that level.