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DENVER, Colo. — Leading up to the Nuggets home opener where they will retire Hall-of-Famer Dikembe Mutombo‘s jersey at halftime, coach Michael Malone reminisced about the legend and his impact on the game.

Malone remembers Mutombo well from coaching him for one season with the New York Knicks to watching him at Georgetown where Mutombo starred from 1988-1991 and gave his opinion on why the 7-foot-2 Democratic Republic of the Congo native meant so much to the Nuggets organization.

“I had the pleasure and fortune to coach Dikembe for one year in New York, get to know him and I think what really made everyone here in Denver so proud was when they played the game in Africa last year and Mutombo and Olajuwon checked into the game. Mutombo was wearing a Denver jersey, and that really kind of made sense and I think it’s only right for us to retire his jersey here. For everything he did on the court. The eight beating the one seed and the picture of him on the floor with that big smile, kind of the image I think a lot of Denver fans have of him forever. And also all the stuff he’s done off the court, he’s more than just a player, he’s a guy that embodies being a professional, being a guy that really cares about the community and what he’s done back in his own country.”

“Defensively, I think he was a game changer. Georgetown had those bigs for a while: Ewing, Morning, Mutombo, who just offensively, lets be honest, he was a solid player, but he made his mark just by being a rim protector, a shot blocker and when you drove the basketball to the basket, you knew he was there and he carved out a niche and I think he was a game changer for sure.”

For Nuggets point guard Emmanuel Mudiay, this day also has a lot of meeting. Like Mutombo, Mudiay was born in the Congo, and the 2015 Hall-of-Fame inductee is someone the 20-year-old looks up to and stays in contact with on a regular basis today.

“It’s great for me to see it,” Mudiay said of the organization retiring Mutombo’s jersey. “He’s from where I’m from, he’s born where I was born, what he’s been doing for the Congolese community and stuff like that. It’s great to see that and it’s a motivating thing as well, seeing someone come from your own area and not the states, from a different country, to come to America and do that. It’s a blessing.”