Masai Ujiri out as vice chairman, president of Toronto Raptors: reports
Masai Ujiri is out as vice chairman and president of the Toronto Raptors, according to multiple reports.
Ujiri, who was entering the final year of his contract, was let go Friday, sources told ESPN and the Toronto Star.
The reported dismissal continues Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment’s recent trend of moving on from team presidents: Brendan Shanahan was let go last month by the Maple Leafs, and Bill Manning let go last year by both Toronto FC and the Argonauts.
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Ujiri took the Raptors to their lone NBA title in 2019 after a series of bold moves, including trading star DeMar DeRozan for Kawhi Leonard and firing coach Dwane Casey in favour of then-assistant coach Nick Nurse.
Under Ujiri, the Raptors made the playoffs seven straight seasons from 2013-14 to 2019-20. However, the team has struggled after their championship glory, failing to recapture that magic and entering a rebuild that saw the team miss the playoffs with a 30-52 record this year.
Reports had surfaced late last year there was friction between Ujiri and Edward Rogers, the executive chair of Rogers Communications – which is now the controlling shareholder of MLSE. Ujiri tried to lay rest to those rumours in September; The Star reported in 2021 that Rogers had unsuccessfully fought plans to re-sign Ujiri as vice chairman and president of basketball operations, saying he was not worth the amount offered.
An assistant general manager in Toronto in 2008 before taking over as GM of the Denver Nuggets, Ujiri was rehired by the Raptors to run basketball operations in May 2013.
— with files from The Canadian Press
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