Masai Ujiri
Masai Ujiri is a Canadian-Nigerian professional basketball executive, former scout, former player, and currently the President of the Toronto Raptors in the National Basketball Association (NBA).
Born in Bournemouth, England, where his parents were studying, his vision was to play basketball in college and compete with a team in one of Europe’s top leagues. Masai Ujiri originally played football before focusing on basketball. His interest in basketball started as a 13-year-old playing with friends on outdoor basketball courts in northern Nigeria where he grew up. This interest was fed by American sports magazines and VHS tapes of NBA games or basketball movies.
Beginning in 2003, Masai co-founded the Giants of Africa (GOA) organization, based on the idea of using basketball as a catapult to achieving great things and enriching the lives of African youth, both boys and girls. Thousands of young African men and women have excelled on the path Masai Ujiri created.
Originally established in Nigeria, GOA expanded into Kenya, and since 2015 GOA has created camps and programs across the African continent, including Ghana, Rwanda, Mali, Morocco, Senegal, Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Botswana, Tanzania, Uganda, South Sudan, and Somalia. In addition, GOA has built courts throughout Africa and conducted outreach programs for communities in need, including two of the largest United Nations refugee camps in the world in Dadaab and Kakuma. With a strong sense of purpose and a magnetic spirit, Masai Ujiri is driven to ensure that the Giants of Africa has a lasting impact on the lives of African youth interested in basketball for many years to come.
Masai Ujiri is also the director of the NBA’s “Basketball Without Borders Africa Program” (BWB), which promotes the basketball sport throughout the African continent.
Modelled after the NBA’s Basketball Without Borders initiative, Masai Ujiri via his Giants of Africa initiative holds two types of annual camps, one for the top 50 players of Nigeria, sponsored by Nestle, and another for African big men (The big men Camp teaches young athletes at 6-foot-8 and above the basic fundamentals of the basketball game with a focus on running, catching, footwork and shooting) which Masai sponsors himself with Nike’s support. On September 2, 2016, the Toronto Raptors extended Ujiri’s contract as the team’s president.
With consistent excellent work and commitment, Masai’s tenure as president ushered in success. The team won its first-ever NBA championship in 17years, under Masai’s leadership in 2019.
Owing to his exceptional advancements, in February 2020, Abike Dabiri, the Chairman of Nigerians in the Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM met with Masia Ujiri and introduced him to President Muhammadu Buhari during the bilateral meeting he had with the Canadian prime minister in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Masai Ujiri is a worthy hero who continues to make a name for himself and Nigeria. We are super proud of his giant strides and his impact on the African youth through basketball.