Nigerian former basketball star, Masai Ujiri has revealed that he is happy with the opportunity to work with female talents as part-owner of USA’s Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) Canada-based team, Toronto Tempo.
Sports247 reports that Ujiri was quite upbeat and vibrant in his comments, while confirming his emergence as a member of The Tempo’s ownership group, adding that it gives him a chance to work closer with women in sports.
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The former Toronto Raptors president, who runs an annual youth camp in Lagos and is now a principal owner of Tempo’s expansion franchise, said after the announcement on Tuesday that he was proud to take up the new challenge in basketball.
The Tempo’s ownership group is led by Larry Tanenbaum, who was a part of Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment when Ujii was in charge of The Raptors, which they both helped in winning the men’s National Basketball Association (NBA) title in 2019.
Over the past nine months, Ujiri has served roles of building sports infrastructure in Africa, but he will now work alongside American female tennis legend and 23-time women’s major champion, Serena Williams, who is also involved with Toronto Tempo.
The new appointment is another step forward for Ujiri, who worked in scouting and management before returning to The Raptors, where he previously served as assistant general manager, executive vice president and general manager in 2013.
He enthused that joining Toronto Tempo will also help him relive his dream of clinching a basketball title, having confessed some months back that one of his goals is to experience another championship conquest and be able to celebrate it.
The basketball icon’s target will be set in motion later this month, when The Tempo begin constructing their first roster, beginning with the expansion draft, when it will select players after fellow debutantes, Portland Fire.
Toronto Tempo will have the sixth overall pick in the WNBA Draft on April 13th and they will begin their first WNBA season in May under the guidance of a highly-respected coach, Sandy Brondello.
“I think women’s sports is growing in an incredible way. You see it in the WNBA, in soccer and in hockey. (I’m happy) to bring a brand like this for the first time to a city that I know.
“It’s a beautiful city that’s passionate, (and one) that I believe in. I think this will really resonate. Ownership is a unique opportunity for me and my family,” Ujiri told ESPN.
Sports247 reports further that Ujiri was born in Bournemouth, England to a Nigerian father and Kenyan mother, who were both foreign students, but the family later moved to Nigeria when he was two years old.
Ujiri’s father, a hospital administrator and nursing educator, is from Aviara in Isoko South local government area of Delta State, but the basketball ace grew up in Zaria, Kaduna State.
After a modest professional playing career in Europe, Ujiri became a scout in 2002, first for Orlando Magic and later Denver Nuggets, then joined the backroom staff of Toronto Raptors in 2008.
Ujiri returned to Nuggets in 2010 as general manager and executive vice president of basketball operations; a role with which he helped return them to the playoffs, thereby emerging as NBA Executive of The Year 2013.
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