{"id":44088,"date":"2021-08-07T07:30:00","date_gmt":"2021-08-07T07:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/masai-ujiri-signs-as-raptors-vice-chairman-and-team-president\/"},"modified":"2021-08-07T08:49:03","modified_gmt":"2021-08-07T08:49:03","slug":"masai-ujiri-signs-as-raptors-vice-chairman-and-team-president","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/masai-ujiri-signs-as-raptors-vice-chairman-and-team-president\/","title":{"rendered":"Masai Ujiri signs as Raptors vice chairman and team president"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cGreat sportsmen impact their games. Great leaders impact their communities. Masai Ujiri does both, and we\u2019re very pleased he is returning to the Raptors as vice-chairman and president,\u201d Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment chairman Larry Tanenbaum said. <\/p>\n

\u201cMasai and MLSE share the goals of bringing another NBA Championship to Toronto, and off the court, working towards making our city, country and world a better place. These are exciting times, and we look forward to all that comes next for our team, for Masai and for his family. Masai, we\u2019re glad you\u2019re staying home.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ujiri has led the Raptors since 2013. During his tenure, the Raptors have moved into their state-of-the-art practice facility at OVO Athletic Centre, hosted an NBA All-Star Game, formed Raptors 905, their G League franchise, and in 2019 won the NBA Championship, the first team outside the United States to accomplish the feat.<\/p>\n

\u201cOn the court, our goal is clear: to bring another championship to Toronto. Our team is united in that mission. Nothing else will do. We will bring young talent to this city. We will value the veteran players who got us here,\u201d Ujiri said. \u201cI\u2019ve said it before and I\u2019m saying it again: We will win in Toronto.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ujiri\u2019s commitment to his work off the court remains unwavering. He continues as president of Giants of Africa, the non-profit he co-founded in 2003, which urges youth to Dream Big and uses sports as a tool for advancement. This summer, he will travel to Africa to unveil new GOA-funded sports infrastructures, so youth there will have access to quality facilities.<\/p>\n

In addition to his work with GOA, Ujiri intends to take on new challenges, including advocating for equality and fair treatment for marginalized people in the justice system, and focusing on the issue of child soldiers and peace. In 2020, Masai launched thatshumanity.org, inspired by his experiences and the lessons learned from leaders like Nelson Mandela. His non-profit interests will be represented by WME.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo be able to stand with Larry Tanenbaum and the MLSE board as we confront these challenges is huge,\u201d Ujiri said. \u201cTo share a vision of what we believe can be possible, and understand the work we have to do to get there, is a huge reason I\u2019m so glad to be back in Toronto. I am very grateful for their confidence and their support.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ujiri grew up in Zaria, Nigeria. He played at college basketball in the United States, and began his career in professional sports as a scout. Ujiri was appointed general manager of the Denver Nuggets in 2011, becoming the first African GM in pro sports, and won the 2013 NBA Executive of the Year award. In Toronto, he has also served as director of global scouting and assistant general manager.<\/p>\n

\"Ujiri<\/figure>\n

Source: National Basketball Association <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

{The Toronto Raptors announced Thursday that they have signed Masai Ujiri to a multi-year contract as Toronto Raptors vice-chairman and team president. As per team policy, terms of the deal were not released.}<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":62,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[75],"byline":[170],"hashtag":[],"class_list":["post-44088","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sports","tag-homenews","byline-igihe"],"bylines":[{"id":170,"name":"IGIHE","slug":"igihe","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":8}],"contributors":[{"id":170,"name":"IGIHE","slug":"igihe","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":8}],"featured_image":null,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44088","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/62"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44088"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44088\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44088"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44088"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44088"},{"taxonomy":"byline","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/byline?post=44088"},{"taxonomy":"hashtag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hashtag?post=44088"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}