Former Toronto Raptors president Masai Ujiri has joined the ownership group of the Toronto Tempo, the city’s new WNBA franchise that begins play this season.
“I think women’s sports is growing in an incredible way. You see it in the WNBA, in soccer, in hockey, and 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,” Ujiri told ESPN. “Ownership is a unique opportunity for me and my family.”
Ujiri is joining the ownership group led by Larry Tanenbaum, with whom he won Toronto’s only NBA title in 2019. In the year since he parted ways with the Raptors, Ujiri, who grew up in Nigeria, has focused on his work with Giants of Africa, the United Nations and the Zaria Group, which is building sports and entertainment infrastructure throughout Africa.
“It’s been extremely busy,” Ujiri said of his year away from the NBA, which he has spent mostly in Florida with his family. “I was able to focus on my family. I went from having a driver for 12 years because I’m always on the phone, to now being an Uber driver for my kids.
“They’re in sports and they take them to this practice, take them to that. And then I’ve been working on facilities and infrastructure on the continent.
“We just completed the sports city [in Rwanda] and now I’m doing things with the U.N. in the Sahel [region of north-central Africa]. And we’re going to open in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Mauritania in a few weeks. We made a pledge to build the sports complexes, and they’re absolutely incredible.”
Still, Ujiri has stayed close to the NBA world — talking often with former players from the Raptors, coaches, executives and several owners with an eye on returning to the league in some capacity, if the right opportunity presents itself.
“I’ve been learning more about our game, the NBA, looking at trends and what we might be missing by studying other leagues,” he said. “I spend a lot of my time trying to do that because one of my main goals is to win another championship. 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 was referring to an incident in which a San Francisco-area sheriff’s deputy stopped Ujiri from running onto the court to celebrate the Raptors’ title over the Golden State Warriors at Oracle Arena because he didn’t provide the proper credentials, leading to a shoving match that was partially captured on video. The deputy sued Ujiri, alleging assault. Ujiri countersued, saying the video footage showed the deputy was “undeniably the initial aggressor” and that he never would have been treated with such disrespect if he were not Black.
Eventually both parties dropped their lawsuits, but Ujiri said the experience left a sour taste that marred the Raptors’ title for him and drives him to win another title, with another team someday.
“There’s a hunger in me because of what happened,” he said. “I want to win again so I can actually enjoy it.”
With the Tempo, he’ll be working for Tanenbaum and alongside two executives he has known for decades, team president Teresa Resch and general manager Monica Wright Rogers.
“Masai has been a mentor of mine since 2008 when I worked one of his camps in Africa,” Resch told ESPN. “We connect often on professional and personal development things. And since he’s come on board as an owner, it’s been another level. He’s got a lot of big ideas and he also understands what it means to put a team together.”
Ujiri is also launching Tempo Rising, a global coaching mentorship program in collaboration with the Tempo. Tempo Rising supports emerging women-identifying and non-binary coaches at an introductory level through exclusive access to mentorship, professional development, and hands-on coaching experiences with Ujiri, Wright Rogers and Tempo coach Sandy Brondello.
