Longtime NBA front office executive Masai Ujiri has joined the ownership group of the Toronto Tempo, the WNBA expansion team announced today (via Twitter), referring to the former Raptors president as a “principal owner.”
“I think women’s sports is growing in an incredible way,” Ujiri told Ramona Shelburne of ESPN. “You see it in the WNBA, in soccer, in hockey, and to bring a brand like this for the first time to a city that I know, a beautiful city that’s passionate, that I believe in — I think this will really resonate. Ownership is a unique opportunity for me and my family.”
Ujiri, who was hired to run the Raptors’ front office in the spring of 2013, remained in that role until last summer, when the team abruptly parted ways with him in late June, just ahead of the free agent period. Changes within the Raptors’ ownership group were cited as one key reason for the split; the club had also missed the playoffs in four of the past five seasons at the time of Ujiri’s exit.
According to Shelburne, Ujiri has spent the past year spending more time with his family and focusing on non-NBA pursuits, including his work with Giants of Africa, the United Nations, and the Zaria Group, a development company aiming to build sports and entertainment infrastructure in Africa.
However, that doesn’t mean the NBA has been completely off Ujiri’s radar. As Shelburne details, the veteran executive has remained in touch with several coaches, execs, and owners from around the league, as well as former Raptors players, and remains open to the idea of returning to the NBA if the right opportunity arises.
“I’ve been learning more about our game, the NBA, looking at trends and what we might be missing by studying other leagues,” Ujiri told ESPN. “I spend a lot of my time trying to do that because one of my main goals is to win another championship. I want to win with the Tempo and I want to win another NBA championship because I wasn’t able to celebrate and be happy because of that police incident that happened to me. … There’s a hunger in me because of what happened. I want to win again so I can actually enjoy it.”
Ujiri’s comment is a reference to an incident that took place during the closing seconds of the Raptors’ Game 6 win of the 2019 NBA Finals in Golden State. A security guard at Oracle Arena prevented him from coming onto the court to celebrate the team’s championship because he didn’t show the proper credentials, which resulted in a brief shoving match.
The security guard, a San Francisco-area sheriff’s deputy, sued Ujiri for assault, while the Raptors exec filed a countersuit, alleging racial bias and contending that footage of the altercation showed that the deputy was “undeniably the initial aggressor.” Both suits were eventually dropped, but the saga understandably put a damper on what should have been the high point of Ujiri’s professional career.
With the Tempo, Ujiri will be part of an ownership group led by Larry Tanenbaum, his former partner with the Raptors. Tanenbaum has been the governor of the NBA team since 1998, but is obligated to begin selling his 20% stake in the Raptors this year.
As for a possible NBA return for Ujiri, Josh Lewenberg of TSN.ca notes (via Twitter) that it may not be long before expansion franchises in Seattle and Las Vegas enter the league and begin building their respective front offices. Lewenberg suggests he wouldn’t be shocked if Ujiri ends up running the basketball operations department for one of those teams.
I like it.