Masai Ujiri, longtime executive for the Toronto Raptors, has joined the ownership group of the Toronto Tempo, the WNBA expansion franchise announced today. The team identified Ujiri as a principal owner through a statement on social media.
“I think women’s sports is growing in an incredible way,” Ujiri told ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne. “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 ran the Raptors’ basketball operations from 2013 until late June of last year, when the club and the executive unexpectedly parted ways days before free agency. Changes within the Raptors’ ownership structure and the team’s four playoff absences in five seasons were cited as factors in the split.
Over the past year, Ujiri has devoted time to family and to initiatives outside the NBA, including his Giants of Africa foundation, work with the United Nations, and the Zaria Group, which focuses on sports and entertainment infrastructure in Africa.
Despite stepping away, Ujiri said he remains connected with coaches, executives, owners, and former Raptors players around the league and is open to returning if the right NBA opportunity emerges. “One of my main goals is to win another championship,” he told ESPN. “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.”
Ujiri’s reference is to a confrontation with a security guard during the closing seconds of the Raptors’ Game 6 victory in the 2019 NBA Finals at Oracle Arena. Both parties later dropped their respective lawsuits stemming from the altercation, but Ujiri has said the episode dampened his championship celebration.
The Tempo ownership group is led by Larry Tanenbaum, Ujiri’s former partner with the Raptors and the NBA club’s governor since 1998. Tanenbaum is required to begin selling his 20 percent stake in the Raptors this year.
Speculation about Ujiri’s future has already begun. TSN’s Josh Lewenberg noted that expected NBA expansion teams in Seattle and Las Vegas will soon need to assemble front offices, adding that Ujiri could be a candidate to oversee basketball operations for one of those franchises.
Source: Hoops Rumors
