A native of Nigeria, Ujiri brings tremendous knowledge and extensive global connections to the Raptors front office. Ujiri has also managed and coached the Nigerian junior and senior national teams. On a personal level, Ujiri has been tireless in his efforts to promote and develop the game of basketball throughout Africa. Thanks for your interest! Going from young player in Nigeria to an inspirational leader in the NBA and a visionary architect of the future of sports in Africa he embodies the aspirations behind the story we are telling.
Below are the 12 club teams from 12 African countries that competed in the inaugural BAL season:. Media Contacts: tamara giantsofafrica. When his friends and classmates in Nigeria were playing soccer, Masai Ujiri was watching highlights of Hakeem Olajuwon. His love of the game brought him to college in the United States, and when his career on the court was complete, his career off-court began.
He started on the ground as a scout, working for teams traveling the world and searching for talent in gyms all over the globe. In Toronto, he has served as director of global scouting and assistant general manager, and in , Masai was named president of the Toronto Raptors.
In , after signing a new contract, Masai added the role of vice-chairman of the club to his responsibilities as team president.
There have to be more. He has travelled with the Prime Minister as part of the Canadian delegation to the African Union meetings. He serves on the advisory board of the Dallaire Institute for Children, Peace and Security, an organization focused on eradicating the use of child soldiers.
So welcoming—they take me as a citizen of their country. I went to Ghana. I started exploring all these places. When we won the championship, I had the Nigerian flag, and I was representing Canada. I truly feel that I have that sense of responsibility. My kids were born here. My wife came to America when she was thirteen years old, so she has American citizenship. I was born in England and lived there until I was nine months, and then moved back to Nigeria.
So I have British citizenship. I have Canadian citizenship. My kids are born in Canada and have American citizenship. How complicated is this? And how many passports can we put on the table? And that explains, to me, why I see myself maybe as a son of the world, in some way. The Raptors just played their first game in Canada in a long, long, long, long time.
What was that like? When I watch the games at the arena, I sit in a room with our video guys. Even the attendants that work with us, I just wanted to give them the biggest hugs. You want to hug them. Tampa was great—they were great to us. But, no, thank you. All due respect. Just to come back and feel that meant the whole world to us. Is that true for your players, too? You are a Canadian citizen, but some of them probably liked the Florida weather more.
No, no, no. Trust me. Was that a surprise, and did it impact, from your perspective, the play on the court? I remember one particular game. Then all of a sudden the crowd just starts cheering for Boston to come back. Would that ever happen in Toronto?
But if you start to think about all the other things. Now you think of your staff: Can they afford to bring their families to Tampa? The wife is not there, or the husband is not there, to help in these times, like, with homeschooling.
Usually your kids are at school, you know? So, all those little things, it became so much. For people like myself, we can manage. But some of these guys are rookies on our team. They had never even been to Canada. How has it felt now that the season is back? You just had a tough loss against the Bulls. I think we have—how many guys are twenty, twenty-two years old?
Precious Achiuwa is twenty-two. Scottie Barnes is twenty. We expect this. This is the growth and building path we have to take. I think moving to Florida set us back a little bit—I told ownership that it set us back a couple of years.
Have the dynamics changed a lot since you were at the Nuggets? Now there are these big, public trade demands. In my opinion, the toughest situations that we all have to deal with are when a player leaves an organization, and when a player is traded.
You build a culture where you try to be as honest as you possibly can, and treat these players in the best possible way. If you can treat these players with respect, and you develop relationships with them, then it makes it a little bit—not easier, but at least you can feel, in your heart, you have communicated. What was it like watching DeMar DeRozan come back, playing for the Bulls, and being a big part of why they won?
DeMar is an incredible player.
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