Dikembe Mutombo, a basketball icon and member of the Basketball Hall of Fame, is having treatment for a brain tumour in Atlanta, the league revealed on Saturday.

The NBA issued a statement on behalf of his family stating that the 56-year-old former shot-blocking legend is “in great spirits.”

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“He is receiving the best care possible from a collaborative team of specialists in Atlanta and is in great spirits as he begins treatment,” according to the statement. “Dikembe and his family ask for privacy during this time so they can focus on his care. They are grateful for your prayers and good wishes.”

“Our thoughts and prayers are with Dikembe, one of the world’s great humanitarians,” NBA commissioner Adam Silver added.

The 7-foot-2-inch Mutombo, who was born in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, initially attended Georgetown University in Washington on a scholarship for academics in 1987. In his second year, he joined the basketball team, and in his third year, he became famous.

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Denver Nuggets’ fourth-round pick in the 1991 NBA Draft, Mutombo went on to win four NBA Defensive Player of the Year awards and make eight All-Star appearances. He spent 18 seasons with Denver, the Houston Rockets, New Jersey Nets, Philadelphia 76ers, Atlanta Hawks, and Denver.

He entered the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2015 and retired second on the league’s tally of career blocks.

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He is also renowned for his charitable endeavours off the court. Mutombo founded the Dikembe Mutombo Foundation in 1997, two years before quitting the NBA, with the goal of enhancing education and quality of life in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.