When you look back, the 18 seasons of Deke's glorious career were scattered in quite a few different destinations. He has played for six teams, among which Denver, Atlanta and Houston each enjoyed five s+easons' service of him. In terms of stats, his best years happened in Denver; speaking of being a franchise guy in a contender team, Atlanta had been a top 4 Eastern team during his stay; speaking of playoff success, his short journey to NJ and Phi resulted in twice appearance in the Finals. However, I for myself, would love to see Houston honor Mutombo (as much as they honor this team) by retiring Deke's jersey in Toyota Center. He might not be a dominent force on court for us, but he has been a major factor in this team's integration and maturity, a true leader and professional model. Not to mention his most successful years as a humanitarian happened also in H-town, and well support by both the franchise and the citizens of this city. That's why I believe he should be given a formal link to Houston, and for a NBA professional, what honor is better than having your jersey hanging along the names like Calvin Murphy, Moses Malone and the Dream? What do you think?
i would love to see the toyota centre retire his jersey as well, but he probably played his best basketball at denver. but it would be sick to see it at the toyota centre
Dunno about the retired jersey. But I think like the announcer said, that the trophy that Mutombo received because of his humanitarian activities, should change the name to the Mutombo trophy
I voted Houston...but his prime was in Denver. Would be more than glad to have his jersey in our arena
They didn't say that that particular award should be named after him, just another award of some kind. While Mutombo does deserve an honor like that, removing J. Walter Kennedy's (former NBA commish) name from that trophy to but Deke's on it would be pretty crappy.
He's bounced around a lot and had he best numbers with Denver and Atlanta, but for whatever reason he seems to have formed a really strong bond with the Rockets organization. I don't think we would be out of place if we retired Deke's jersey first.
The Rockets, Hawks and Nuggets have promised Deke they will retire his number so this is a non-issue. However, he was most important, most famous, at his best, most loved and started his career in Denver so they should be the first to retire his jersey. He was the #1 reason they won the series vs. Sonics with his amazing block shotting abilities, setting all kinds of records. Too bad they got rid of him after 95-96, one of the dumbest moves ever, you just do not trade a guy like Mutombo. He was supposed to be a franchise player like Olajuwon, Yao etc.
