Raptors assistant coach spends time in the paint

By Lindsay Dunn

For the last four seasons you have seen Patrick Mutombo behind the bench, helping assist Nick Nurse and the players to their first NBA Championship.

Mutombo was born in Kinshasa, Zaire and even before he grew a love for basketball, he fell in love with art.

“Ever since I was young, I look back to my notebooks, dating back to Africa and I was always drawing and doodling and doing that kind of stuff.” Mutombo told CityNews. “I sculpt, I used to write and for me it’s just — I am an artist, that’s who I am.”

He is an artist that happens to also be an Assistant Coach for the 2019 Toronto Raptors. It was when he was playing basketball in Greece in 2008 that he decided to take his love of painting seriously.

“I would go after practice to get dinner and then I bought paints and would start around 10 p.m. and would paint all night until I think five or six in the morning, sleep for about three hours, then wake up and go to practice again.’

After practice he would take his paintings to his mentor at the time, who worked at a gallery in Greece and would get him to give him constructive feedback on his work.

“I know not everyone is going to like my art, which is ok, because ultimately my art is how I express how I see the world and the way I see the world has been shaped by my experiences, different continents I lived on and those things now impact the way I express things when I paint, even what colours I choose.”

Mutombo takes his brushes, paints and canvas on as many road trips with the Raptors as he can.

“I want everyone to have the feeling I have when I paint. That feeling like I was born to do this, that’s how I feel when I paint. Ultimately if you feel good about what you’ve done, be it painting or life or your job, if you give your best and this is what you have to offer, be proud of it.”

His Instagram page showcases some of his work and even some of his colleagues on the Raptors have a one-of-a-kind Patrick Mutombo creation in their homes.

“Coach Nurse owns a couple of my pieces, kudos to him. Sergio Scariolo has some and former colleagues, I think when I was with the Denver Nuggets, but I haven’t really done a good job of marketing myself like that. I just do it because I love it, I do it for me.”

And no, he isn’t related to retired NBA Player Dikembe Mutombo.

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