Ex-Toronto Raptors exec Ujiri hints at 'plenty more to come' in his future
Former Toronto Raptors exec Masai Ujiri returned to his old stomping grounds this week.
Ujiri was back in Toronto for the TIFF premiere of Origin: The Story of the Basketball Africa League, a documentary that he co-produced about the NBA-affiliated project.
Ujiri originally joined the Raptors in 2007 before leaving for a job with the Denver Nuggets in 2008. He then rejoined the Raptors in 2013 as general manager, became team president in 2016, and was a key factor in helping lead them to the 2019 NBA title. He was let go by the team earlier this year, with one year left on his contract.
A longtime champion of the growth of basketball on the continent where he grew up, the documentary features contributions from Barack Obama, Steph Curry, Dikembe Mutombo, Pascal Siakam, J.Cole, and Joakim Noah, among others.
“We are only at the beginning of telling Africa’s incredible story and its talent being celebrated by the world,” Ujiri said in a release about the film.
Outside of the documentary, Ujiri also spoke about his time in Toronto and what’s next for his future.
“I got all the emotions you can possibly have, and super excited that I’m moving to the next stage of my life,” Ujiri said on a red-carpet interview, per CTV News. “I love Toronto, and it’s been so great for me and my family. The 12 years were just incredible for me and my family. Yeah, good things come to an end, and I’m incredibly happy and really excited about what’s next and the future.”
Earlier this summer, Ujiri announced a new role with the United Nations as a “sustainable development goal advocate.” But he hinted that there’s more on the way, despite not landing a new NBA job this summer.
“You’ll start to hear of [more things I’m doing] as we go. Obviously, the UN thing has been announced, and incredibly excited to work with them.”
“There’s plenty more to come.”
While we don’t know exactly where Ujiri will end up, we doubt we’ll stop hearing from him around Toronto anytime soon.