Tag: Masai Ujiri

Raptors president Masai Ujiri spoke to …

Raptors president Masai Ujiri spoke to Charles Barkley and Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green on Thursday, during an interview on NBA on TNT, where the latter congratulated Ujiri on last year’s title, before making an incorrect assumption about the team’s need for leadership and accountability when it comes to Black people in Canada. “You guys have on your bus ‘Black Lives Matter’ and as a Canadian team, it doesn’t directly impact your team because you’re in an entirely different country. What made you guys take the stand and put it on your bus — I think one of 22 teams that actually went through with it — where did the idea come from and why did you guys feel the need to push that through?” Green asked Ujiri.

Ujiri reiterated that the Raptors have …

Ujiri reiterated that the Raptors have a responsibility to create awareness and use their platform for good, while issuing praise for Green and the Warriors’ own efforts towards eradicating systemic racism. “For us, we said we were going to use the bubble as a statement. We said we’re going to use this place as a platform,” Ujiri said. “We thought that coming in here, you have to make a statement, you have to, for me, you have to create awareness. What you guys are doing over there is creating awareness, you’re talking about this. We have to continue to do that.”

The Raptors came to be one of the few …

The Raptors came to be one of the few NBA teams at the Walt Disney World Resort accompanied by both of their senior executives — president Masai Ujiri and general manager Bobby Webster. “It was a conversation that we had very early on when we knew there were only so many spots,” said Webster on a conference call Thursday. “But really, it wasn’t that difficult a decision. I think you guys know how we operate, and having both of us here is good to take care of things here on the ground — we can communicate back to Toronto — but I think more than anything … we’re here in full support, we’re in this together, obviously we think this will be a long haul for us here, and we just wanted to do that.”

The least amount of time that anyone in …

The least amount of time that anyone in the Raptors travelling party will have been away from their families by the time the second round of the playoffs begin – which is when families can come to Disney World – will be 10 weeks. Webster and Ujiri – each with young families at home – are no exception. “They’re really committed to the organization — that goes without saying — but they’re committed to what we’re doing,” said Raptors guard Norman Powell.

When the Raptors left the lobby of the …

When the Raptors left the lobby of the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Naples, Fla., to make their way to Orlando after having spent two weeks there in ‘pre-quarantine,’ they looked up to see a pair of gleaming buses in the franchise’s Black and Red colour scheme with “Black Lives Matter” emblazoned on the side. “We didn’t know they were doing that, or at least I didn’t know,” said Powell, who has been outspoken in his support for social justice and is donating proceeds of his “Am I Next” shirts from his clothing line to a pair of charities aligned with the cause. “… But it was really cool to walk out of the lobby and see those buses with Black Lives Matter out there. I really like that.”

Daniel Wallach: NEW: County of Alameda …

Daniel Wallach: NEW: County of Alameda files a $142K lien against the police officer who sued Raptors president Masai Ujiri for assaulting him during last year’s NBA Finals celebration. County seeks offset for amounts paid to officer as workers comp benefits claimed from same incident.

Ujiri and VanVleet said everyone is …

Ujiri and VanVleet said everyone is wearing masks indoors when not in their individual rooms. Players and staff are being tested for COVID-19 approximately every other day or so. Routines are different for everybody, but the idea is that those routines will become normal after enough repetition. VanVleet’s currently consists of waking up early — he works out early in morning — and heading back to his room where he plays plenty of video games, video chats with his family, and picks up the dinner provided for him. VanVleet said he is planning to have his family enter the bubble when it becomes possible, after the first round of the playoffs at the start of September, but he will re-evaluate that plan after having been in the Disney campus for some time. “I’ve been gone a week and I miss my kids already,” VanVleet said.

Toronto Raptors president Masai Ujiri …