WITH HELP FROM MUTUMBO, ZAIRE ABLE TO TAKE FIRST STEPS.

Byline: David Teel Newport News Daily Press

Zaire's largest basketball facility seats approximately 4,000 and does not have a roof. The national women's team often must play in ratty uniforms and 2-year-old sneakers.

Imagine, then, the athletes' wonder Thursday when they put on new uniforms, warmups and shoes and ran into an Olympic arena bursting with 31,230, the largest crowd ever to witness the sport anywhere in the world.

There was Kongola Amba, a 23-year-old Institute of Barumba student who began playing basketball only four years ago. There was Kasala Kamanga, 35, a women's basketball pioneer in Zaire, and Mabika Mwadi, a future doctor.

They and their teammates had no chance in a 107-47 loss to the United States at the Georgia Dome, but at least one native of Zaire was flush with pride.

``Just to see them play before 31,000 people and see my flag being waved,'' Dikembe Mutumbo said. ``It was great.''

Mutumbo, a center for the NBA's Atlanta Hawks, is responsible for Zaire's Olympic fashion statement, right down to the matching black-and-white shower shoes.

``You guys didn't see the uniforms they had at practice the first day,'' Mutumbo said. ``You wouldn't believe it. Their shoes were 2 years old. I said no. In the NBA I change about 120 pair a year. I went downtown and got them shoes the following day. I told them to burn everything they brought with them.''

Mutumbo was merely keeping a promise he made last summer to Zaire coach Mongamaluku Mozingo. Make the Olympics, Mutumbo told his coach from his youth, and I will take care of you.

``He promised to pay for our air fare,'' Mozingo said. ``It was he who requested the government to support our efforts.''

Sure enough, Zaire won the African zone competition and qualified for its first Olympics. So proud is the country that one journalist used a cell phone Thursday to relay play-by-play back home. At the game's conclusion, Mutumbo took the phone and talked to the folks in Zaire, and then he went to the locker room.

``I wanted to let them know I still love them and I'm still supporting them,'' Mutumbo said. ``Some of the girls had their heads down. I told them, `Enjoy yourself. Be happy for making the Olympics. Don't be sad if you don't win the gold or win the game.''

Zaire is 0-3 in pool play and will not win a medal. But the nation's, and Mutumbo's, involvement in women's basketball speaks further of the game's blossoming popularity, as does the size of Thursday's crowd.

``I think it's unfortunate we still have to break these kinds of barriers, but I'm glad to be experiencing it,'' U.S. center Lisa Leslie said. ``I think it's a great time for women's basketball not only for the Olympics, but also for little girls who want to get started playing.''

Even little girls in Zaire, where Mutumbo organizes and finances tournaments for youth of both genders.

``What I spend is just a little piece of cake,'' said Mutumbo, who recently signed a contract with the Hawks worth more than $10 million a year. ``Being rich and making the money I make, I need to give some back. . . . These are my home girls. There are a couple of them I grew up with and went to school with.''

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Photo: Dikembe Mutumbo contributed uniforms and shoes to th e Zaire women's basketball team.

Associated Press