Masai Ujiri bid farewell to Toronto Raptors fans Monday in a YouTube video.
The Raptors announced June 28 that Ujiri had been fired as the team’s vice-chairman and president, marking the end of a more than decade-long run that delivered the franchise its first NBA championship.
Ujiri was heading into the final year of his contract with the team.
But Keith Pelley, the president and chief executive officer of Raptors owner Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, said at the time of the announcement that the decision to move on from Ujiri was made about a month ago.
Ujiri, 55, posted his farewell on his Giants of Africa channel. He thanked the organization, the fans and players, past and present.
He said his family built a base in Toronto and the city is the “only home” his kids have known, while referring to it as home himself multiple times.
“Toronto, Canada, I love you. (The) country that welcomed me, the city that became home. This bond we share will last forever,” he said. “As I look back at more than a decade of heartfelt moments, I’m overwhelmed with gratitude.”
Ujiri was hired as general manager of the Raptors in 2013, and he called his start leading Toronto’s basketball operations “a chance to shift the culture.”
“A chance to win, and win is what we did,” he said as the video showed highlights of the Raptors’ highs and lows of a team led by Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan, and then the 2018-19 team that won the NBA title.
Ujiri suggested he might still be involved with basketball in Toronto, mentioning the Tempo and their WNBA debut season next year.
“I’ll be right here when our Toronto Tempo makes history in the WNBA, continuing my commitment to basketball across the globe, wherever it takes me,” he said. “My dreams of a second championship are alive and well.
“And that pursuit will surely carry on as my next chapter begins.”
WATCH | Masai Ujiri era ends in Toronto:
After 12 years and one NBA championship, the Toronto Raptors have fired longtime president Masai Ujiri. The move, which has upset many Raptors fans, is just the latest shakeup since Rogers consolidated its ownership of Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment.
