Nigerian Professional Basketball Executive and Toronto Raptors President, Masai Ujiri has been credited for lifting the Raptors from NBA disappointment to title contender.
Ujiri was born in England but grew up in Nigeria where he discovered basketball as a teenager. He went into scouting after his playing days and was hired by the Raptors as a global scouting director.
He had held several managerial positions with the Raptors before he was promoted to the position of the team president in 2016.
The 48-year-old made a deal last July for San Antonio star forward Kawhi Leonard, sending away long-time Toronto standout DeMar DeRozan, and fired NBA Coach of the Year Dwane Casey after a second consecutive playoff ouster by Cleveland, hiring Nick Nurse to replace him.
Now, Ujiri looks like a genius as the Raptors are facing the defending champion Golden State Warriors in the best-of-seven NBA Finals.
“The change was hard at the time but we knew the kind of player we were getting and if we overcame and we dealt with all the issues that we felt that could come together, Ujiri said.
“Our job is to try and create that team, the atmosphere for them, the workplace for them to prepare and they have done an incredible job.”
Ujiri also attributed some credits to DeRozan and Casey for getting the Raptors into the first final of their 24-season history while also commending Nurse for his impact on the team.
“To give Dwane Casey credit, he prepared us for this, too,” Ujiri said.
“Dwane Casey and DeMar DeRozan are a part of this, part of our journey and how far this has come.
“Nick has done a great job just taking it from there and building his own identity and building a team that he wanted to coach in a certain way and bringing up us to this moment. He has made the right adjustments.”
