To pass the time until the 2021-22 season begins for the Philadelphia 76ers, we look back at some of the bigger players in the franchise’s recent history.

In this edition, we continue our focus on the 2000s and one of the team’s stars during the decade. This edition focuses on a big man who was acquired during their best playoff run in recent memory and who gave the team a big boost on the defensive end.

In the middle of the 2000-01 season, the Sixers acquired future Hall of Famer Dikembe Mutombo from the Atlanta Hawks in exchange for Theo Ratliff. While Ratliff was having a helluva season, he suffered a significant injury and his season was over after 50 games. This was a move Philadelphia needed to make and it paid off.

Mutombo ended up averaging 11.7 points, 12.4 rebounds and 2.4 blocks while helping MVP Allen Iverson get the Sixers into the NBA Finals that season. The veteran was a shot-blocking menace in the postseason: He averaged 3.1 blocks per game for the entire 2001 postseason.

Philadelphia took on the Los Angeles Lakers in the finals and they ended up winning Game 1 after a brilliant performance by Iverson, but they lost the next four as Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant proved to be a bit too much.

Mutombo then made an All-Star appearance for the Sixers in 2002 in a season where he averaged 11.5 points, 10.8 rebounds, and 2.4 blocks per game. The Sixers were unable to replicate their success from the previous season, but it was a solid run for the big man in Philadelphia.

Mutombo was traded to the New Jersey Nets in the ensuing offseason, netting Philadelphia Todd MacCulloch and Keith Van Horn. Mutombo helped the Nets make the finals in 2003 and he was then waived after the season was over. He finished his career with the New York Knicks and the Houston Rockets before retiring in 2008.

This post originally appeared on Sixers Wire! Follow us on Facebook!