Mutombo to receive Sager Strong Award

Hall of Famer Dikembe Mutombo will be presented with this year's Sager Strong Award during the annual NBA Awards show on June 25 in Los Angeles.

The honor is named after late TNT sideline reporter Craig Sager, and is presented to an individual who has exemplified courage, faith, compassion, and grace. The winner receives a colorful suit jacket, a replica of the one worn by Sager during his powerful speech at the 2016 ESPY awards.

Current San Antonio Spurs executive and former New Orleans Pelicans head coach Monty Williams won the inaugural award last year.

"I'm truly honored to receive the Sager Strong Award," Mutombo told USA TODAY's Jeff Zilgitt. "I can only hope to live up to the tradition of Craig Sager, who embodied strength, respect and of course, great style."

Mutombo retired as a player in 2009, but continued as a global ambassador for the NBA, advocating for his home continent of Africa. In addition to building a hospital in his native Congo, he paid for a team of doctors to visit and conduct various knee and cataract surgeries for its residents, and has arranged thousands of free cervical and breast cancer screenings for women.