Masai Ujiri Quotes

I always say in my camps in Africa, in everything we do, ‘My name is Masai and I’m from Nigeria.’ My name is Masai and I’m from Nigeria. It’s plain and simple. If you’re from La Loche or you are from Toronto you should be proud of it.

I was one of those athletic African players.

Every day is different. There’s always, as we call it in the NBA, a ‘drama,’ a team’s drama, there’s always something.

Giving back to our communities is huge.

Growing up in Africa, I always dreamt big.

You need some luck in life and I have been lucky with God’s help.

Manute Bol was one of the guys who taught me to be bold. To be fierce. To speak intelligently, and speak like you belong.

I carry the continent of Africa on my shoulders proudly.

To give women more opportunity, women’s empowerment is very, very close to my heart.

Every man, they say, ‘oh my wife is my boss.’ So why can’t they be bosses at work?

This is a team sport, a team game.

When you get a chance to get a top five player, which doesn’t come very often, you have to jump on it.

This is my hobby. Reaching out, getting to know other people’s cultures, traveling to other people’s countries.

As you can probably tell, the push to develop talent in Africa is personal. I grew up there. I played there. I know how much talent there is. We have to concentrate on building facilities, establishing successful leagues and finding investors to help young players.

People hear ‘Africa’ and they think about charitable commercials, or safari tours and animals. It’s our responsibility to help change that perspective.

It’s a great thing that the NBA has done in Africa to develop the game.

If you have a great culture and you’re progressing the right way to win I think players will always want to come.

Players want to go where the team wins and where the team has a great culture, ownership and all of that. It doesn’t matter where you are. It really doesn’t matter, you have to perform and you have to win.

Honestly… I’ve never felt pressure working in basketball. There’s no pressure at all. If it doesn’t work, it doesn’t work.

I’m proud of Toronto. I’m proud of Canada. I’m proud of the NBA. I’m very proud of it.

We play sports to win.

Africa has proven to produce some of the greatest athletes in the world, and it’s a joy to be able to help grow that talent and create a space for African youth to learn.

The natural thing in Africa is to start playing soccer at 8 or 9. You go outside and you play like kids play basketball here, and you grow a feel for the game. In Africa, the kids start playing basketball at 16 or 17 or 18, and when they get an opportunity to come here, they have been playing for only one or two years.

I value my staff and I believe in hiring people who are smarter than myself.

It’s my responsibility to put a team on the floor that will win, and that attracts players.

For me, it’s always been about Toronto. I love it here. My family loves it here. My wife loves it here, which is important.

We have something very special happening in Toronto and Drake is a big part of that.

I’m nervous about everything I do with Africa. You almost want it to go good all the time, and you don’t want to disappoint.

I’ll always have a special place in my heart for the city of Denver and the Nuggets as an organization.

Winning influences, it helps, it gets the kids. Winning makes an impact.

Most kids in Africa don’t start playing basketball until they are 13 or 14 years old. This puts them at a disadvantage because they lack the instincts and must work harder to develop the skills and habits formed at an early age.

He is so true to himself, and so good to other people. Even during tough conversations, I have never worried about him. Because I know Dwane Casey is going to come back tomorrow to try to be better, and I feel the same way. I try to be better, and so I try to be like him that way.

As an NBA executive, I’m always looking for untapped potential. As a proud native of Nigeria, I believe that Africa is one of the world’s greatest resources in that area.

Our job is to find players younger, where they are able to play from 11 years old and grow up playing the game. Rather than, you start playing when you are 17 or 18 and you don’t get the opportunity to do anything with your career.

We’re going to have tough times. We’re going to have five-game losing streaks. Everybody goes through it.

I focus on very few things in life – my work, my family, my friends. Those things are important to me and I pay good attention to them, and everything else just comes and goes.

Nelson Mandela saw the potential of Africa and dedicated his life to changing the world in which we live while inspiring a movement towards social justice, peace and equal human rights.

I study history. I study the game. I study the NBA and the team I’m working for very, very closely.

I am confident about who I am as a person, my character, and as a human being.

I’ve spent a lot of time in the United States and Canada and I am grateful for the opportunities that I’ve been given by people, and the game of basketball, and the NBA.

To be honest, women just make us smarter. They make us better. I’ve noticed that in my workplace. I’ve noticed that at home. I’ve noticed that in my past experiences in life.

I memorized every line in Michael Jordan’s ‘Come Fly with Me.’

The more you give, the more you grow.

Basketball without Borders made me who I am and it’s just something that is such a huge part of my life.

Whether it’s drafting or player development, the ultimate is putting a team together.

I understand my job and what the job is and what has to be done basketball wise. I do that 24/7 and it’s a huge priority for me, but I cannot be in this job and not try to affect the youth of Africa, or the youth around the world, even. Help other people in some kind of way.

We have to make Toronto – we have to – we have to make Toronto the best atmosphere in the NBA.

Just because someone lives in a hut, that doesn’t mean that isn’t a good person, that that person can’t do better, that person isn’t capable of being great. And just because it’s a hut – whatever that means – doesn’t mean it’s not a home.

Nelson Mandela knew that sport has the power to inspire and unite people in a way that little else does.

Kids in Africa start kicking a ball when they are six or seven years old, if not younger. It’s like baseball, basketball and football in America. If you’re talented, people will find you. That’s what happened with soccer. The number of academies has grown rapidly, and people are really into it.

God doesn’t put anyone someplace permanently. I am a living testimony to that.

Most young kids can’t figure out how to shoot.

When I started Giants of Africa, I envisioned providing African youth access to the game and empowering them to achieve their greatest potential.

We can say potential all we want, but at the end of the day, sports is about winning.

I have a mandate to win and that’s what I want to do.