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Man Wins Auction for Storage Unit Filled with Dikembe Mutumbo Memorabilia

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One of the more comical aspects of the show Storage Wars is the graphic on the side of the screen that shows the increasing value of the locker as items are discovered, based on the off-the-cuff valuations of the person most invested in the junk being valuable. If only that ticker was present when Maryland-native Adrian Petrus recently bought a storage unit that turned out to be filled with Dikembe Mutombo collectibles:

TMZ reports:

The whole thing was packed full of Mutombo items -- signed basketballs, shoes, jerseys,  trading cards and photos of Dikembe with celebs like Michael Jackson and Nelson Mandela.  The locker also contained works of art painted and signed by Mutombo's brother.

So who would abandon such an incredible cache of Dikembe stuff? Turns out, the unit belonged to one of Dikembe's brothers ... who lost the locker recently after missing several rental payments. We're told the brother had gone back to the Congo to deal with family issues in the wake of his father's death -- and simply forgot to make his locker payments.

Petrus tells TMZ that he was unsuccessful in reaching Mutumbo in order to make a deal to give back the memorabilia. He subsequently followed that old adage, "If at first you don't succeed, try eBay."

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