Masai Ujiri live: Raptors president out as fans slam ‘huge mistake'; MLSE's Keith Pelley to speak at 1 p.m.

Hamilton Spectator

12 hours ago

An NBA source has confirmed for The Star that
Raptors
president and vice-chair
Masai Ujiri
is departing in a stunning development a day after the draft.
Follow our live blog as this story develops.
All caps, expletive-laden posts flooded the r/torontoraptors Reddit page, with fans calling the move 'a joke' and a 'disaster.'
Other users expressed heartbreak and incredulity that the Raptors would part ways with the boss who pulled off the trade for Kawhi Leonard that helped bring a title to Toronto.
'I just fell to my knees at Tim Hortons,' one fan said of the news in a post on X.
Read more from Elissa Mendes here
Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment announced in a statement Friday that the company has parted ways with Toronto Raptors president and vice-chairman Masai Ujiri.
'During his 13 seasons with the Raptors, Masai has helped transform the organization on the court and has been an inspirational leader off it,' said MLSE President & CEO Keith Pelley.
'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. As we plan for the franchise's future, and its return to the NBA Playoffs, a search for the successor as president of the Raptors, led by CAA Executive Search, will begin immediately.'
Ujiri has led the Raptors since returning to Toronto in 2013 and led the franchise to its only NBA championship in 2019.
There is no immediate reason for the abrupt departure. Ujiri was as involved as usual in the team's off-season and pre-draft preparations.
He had one year left on a contract worth about $15 million per season.
Read more from Doug Smith here
Edward Rogers actively fought plans to keep Masai Ujiri as head of the Toronto Raptors this summer — saying that he was not worth the amount offered — and then tried to extract an extraordinary benefit for his own company, the Star has learned.
To the relief of fans, the ploy by Rogers was unsuccessful, and the Raptors announced on Aug. 5 that Ujiri was staying on in Toronto as vice chairman and president of basketball operations.
However, new details have emerged suggesting that behind the scenes Edward Rogers tried to sabotage a high-performing executive with whom he had grown disenchanted — and ultimately failed in his bid because he appeared not to fully understand the governance structure of the NBA franchise.
Read more here from Doug Smith and former Star reporter Christine Dobby
Ujiri was no stranger to Toronto when he took a reported five-year, $15-million deal to become general manager of the franchise.
He had spent three seasons in Toronto as an assistant general manager and director of global scouting before joining the Denver Nuggets front office in 2010 as general manager and vice president of basketball operations. There, he pulled off the blockbuster 2011 Carmelo Anthony trade with the New York Knicks and won NBA Executive of the Year in 2013.
Here's a look back at his time with the Raptors.
MLSE president & CEO Keith Pelley speaks to the media after Leafs president Brendan Shanahan was ousted in May.
Keith Pelley, the president and CEO of Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment, will address the media at 1 p.m. ET.
The Star will carry the press conference live in this blog.
Since Pelley took the role with MLSE in January 2024, the organization has parted ways with Toronto FC and Argonauts president Bill Manning and, more recently, Maple Leafs president Brendan Shanahan.
Now, he'll be asked questions about the departure of the longtime Raptors president.