TORONTO (Reuters) -Masai Ujiri, who oversaw the most successful era in the history of the NBA’s Toronto Raptors, is out as team president, Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment (MLSE) announced on Friday.
Ujiri, whose bold gambles helped the Raptors capture the 2019 NBA championship, making them the first and only team outside the United States to do so, was entering the final year of a five-year contract with the team.
“Masai has helped transform the organization on the court and has been an inspirational leader off it,” MLSE President and CEO Keith Pelley said in a press release.
“He brought an NBA championship to Toronto and urged us to believe in this city, and ourselves. We are grateful for all he has done and wish him and his family the very best.”
The decision to part ways with Ujiri comes a day after the 2025 NBA Draft concluded and following a season in which the Raptors went 30-52 and missed the playoffs for a third consecutive year.
Ujiri joined the Raptors in 2013 and became known for his bold decision-making, trading some of the team’s more popular players and firing head coach Dwane Casey in May 2018 two days after he was named the NBA’s coach of the year.
Perhaps Ujiri’s biggest gamble was the blockbuster trade in July 2018 that sacrificed fan favourite DeMar DeRozan for Kawhi Leonard, a move that was initially greeted with mixed reaction among the team’s fan base.
But Leonard became one of Canada’s most popular athletes during his one season in Toronto as he took the Raptors on a thrilling championship run that saw him named the most valuable player of the NBA Finals.
As the search for a new team president commences, Raptors front office leadership remains in place with extensions for key personnel including general manager Bobby Webster.
“We feel the team is in a strong, stable place, and we believe the addition of a new president will continue to move the Raptors forward, towards our next NBA championship,” said Pelley.
(Reporting by Frank Pingue in TorontoEditing by Toby Davis)
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