Former Raptors president Masai Ujiri joins ownership group for WNBA’s Toronto Tempo

The WNBA is coming to Toronto this season — and Masai Ujiri is now part of it.

The longtime Toronto Raptors lead executive has joined the ownership group of the Toronto Tempo, the WNBA team set to begin play this year.

Ujiri spoke about what motivated him to join, speaking with Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.

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“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. Ownership is a unique opportunity for me and my family.”

Ujiri was one of the more respected executives around the league, but was pushed out in Toronto in part due to a personality conflict with the new head of Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment (MLSE), which owns the Raptors. He told Shelburne he wants to return to the NBA at some point.

“I’ve been learning more about our game, the NBA, looking at trends and what we might be missing by studying other leagues. 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.”

The incident Ujiri is referring to is from Game 6 of the 2019 NBA Finals, when the Raptors secured the championship with a win over the Warriors at Oracle Arena. A sheriff’s deputy working security court side would not let Ujiri on the court to celebrate with the Raptors because he didn’t show the right credentials. That led to a shoving match between the deputy and Ujiri, which was caught on camera and went viral. Ujiri and the officer sued each other, but both eventually dropped the lawsuits.

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Ujiri said that during his time off from the NBA, he has focused his work with Giants of Africa and the United Nations on building sports complexes and infrastructure in Africa — including basketball courts, of course.

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/former-raptors-president-masai-ujiri-171433613.html

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Publish date : 2026-03-31 17:14:00

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