Debunking the 'Who wants to sex Mutombo?' debunking

You may have seen the above wheatpaste in Northern Liberties or Brewerytown and wondered what the hell that was all about. 

Retired basketball star Dikembe Mutombo, who played for the 76ers in 2001 and 2002, was known for being a giant person, blocking shots and wagging his finger afterward, as shown here in this Geico commercial:

The "Who wants to sex Mutombo?" legend started way before Mutombo came to Philly. It dates back to his days at Georgetown, The story has that urban legend feel to it in that there's, like, 20 different versions of the story in Hoya lore, this being the one in the record books:

At the 1991 block party ... Georgetown's seven-foot star center Dikembe Mutombo unwound his prodigiously long limbs, raised his frame to tower over the rest of the student body, and bellowed in a beer-sauced, Zairean voice, "Who wants to sex Dikembe?" As the rest of the University looked on in pure awe, two comely volunteers quickly identified themselves, and Dikembe Mutombo left New South with a woman on each arm.

Bill Simmons is probably responsible for the "Who wants to sex Mutombo?" variant. Yesterday evening, though, Deadspin noticed that ESPN's Highly Questionable asked Mutombo about it directly, and that in response he did his trademark finger-wag and denied knowing how this crazy rumor even got started in the most charming way possible:

(Here, we giffed that for you:)

 

The general reaction to the idea that this was never actually said is somewhere south of a 5-year-old finding out that the Tooth Fairy isn't real. But don't despair just yet! On every he-never-said-it reblog that's gone up since the Deadspin one, there's always a few commenters claiming to be from Georgetown emphatically debunking the debunking.

Technically, though, what they say backs Mutombo's claim up, in a "I did not have sex with that woman" sort of way. Most of the people who claim to have witnessed it firsthand at Georgetown say that he didn't in fact say "Who wants to sex Mutombo?" 

That is:

Dikembe's signature call was not "who wants to sex Mutumbo" but "Who will sex Dikembe tonight?!" Those of us who witnessed the man with the booming voice as he walked out of New South on a Friday afternoon, wandering over to his Village A apartment, will never forget it. — C'92

And: 

who will sex Dikembe tonight originated at Soul Night at the Pub in the early 90′s. first hand witness. #HoyaSaxa

And:

I was a year behind Dikembe at Georgetown. EVERYBODY who lived in New South or Village A knows this is a true story, because it's how he left the cafeteria after eating on a Friday — asking the world his big question. I heard it twice myself — although it was always, WHO WILL SEX DIKEMBE TONIGHT rather than Mutumbo. So, don't believe the debunkers!

And:

As a classmate of Dikembe's I can confirm that at least once he shouted "who will sex Dikembe tonight" from one of the catwalks in Village A. A truly hysterical Georgetown moment.

And:

I graduated Georgetown same year as Dikembe...it is 100% true, no doubt about it and he often said it walking into parties on campus when English was still new to him.

100% true, no...doubt...about it.

There's also testimonials from Mutombo's Philly days: 

I don't know about the story while at Georgetown, but he said, "Who wants to sex Mutombo" in Philadelphia in 1999 to one of my close friends and a group of girls she was with. It has been an inside joke among them for over a decade, having nothing to do with the Georgetown story.

Incidentally, at least in the Philadelphia story, it was successful as a pickup line. And since these girls told me this story as far back as 2000, I do believe it's a second instance of the same line. Admittedly, this is secondhand, but it was first-hand with multiple credible witnesses from my perspective.

That person: Please call us if you read this. 215-854-2492. Oh please, please call us. Here's another Philly testimonial:

I have an acquaintance who is a freelance writer in Philly, and she did the gossip beat for one of the weeklies when Mutumbo played for the Sixers. According to her, our boy would make his entrance into the local strip clubs saying that exact line. I rolled my eyes when I heard that but I guess it's true after all.

Oh, wait! We tried Jessica Pressler and a couple others who could possibly be this anonymous alt-weekly freelancer; alas, all of them said they weren't the writer in question. We're gonna keep trying to track her down, but we've got other stuff to do today.  

In closing, we note that Mutombo's an incredibly generous humanitarian and an extremely educated and intelligent man; he's given tens of millions of dollars to charity, particularly in his native Congo. If it looked like my legacy would be not that but "Who wants to sex Mutombo?" we'd probably try to put it to rest, too. Even if we actually did use it as a gimmick to get laid for a couple decades.