President of the Toronto Raptors Masai Ujiri walks onto the court prior to the preseason NBA game against the Boston Celtics at Centre Bell in Montreal, Que., on Oct. 14, 2022.Minas Panagiotakis/AFP/Getty Images
Toronto Raptors president Masai Ujiri said he feels “humbled and surprised” about being appointed to the Order of Canada, one of the country’s highest honours.
Governor-General Mary Simon announced 85 new inductees to the Order of Canada on Friday, including three companions, 22 officers and 60 members. Ujiri has been invested as an officer, “for his contributions on and off the basketball court, as a humanitarian and an NBA president.”
The Raptors executive, who was raised in Nigeria and has become a Canadian citizen, said he received a confidential call from the Governor-General’s office about a month ago, as he was preparing for the NBA draft.
“It means so much to be honoured by a country where my kids were born, a country that means so much to me,” Ujiri told The Globe and Mail in a phone interview on Friday, making time to reflect on the honour just hours before NBA free agency opened. “I am very appreciative and proud, honoured that people would think of me in this way.”
Ujiri’s most famous achievement came in 2019 when his Raptors captivated Canadians by claiming the club’s first NBA title. Ever since, he’s been working to return Toronto’s franchise to that crest once again. After the Raptors closed out a disappointing 2022-23 season with an underwhelming loss in the play-in game, Toronto fans have been waiting on tenterhooks to see what moves Ujiri and general manager Bobby Webster make.
Off-court, Ujiri is also a co-founder of the Giants of Africa Foundation, a not-for-profit which focuses on educating and enriching the lives of girls and boys through grassroots basketball, playing host to camps and building facilities throughout the continent. It has included some 40,000 African youth across 17 countries through access to some 30 basketball courts and 80 basketball camps or clinics. It has empowered girls and preached equality by bringing hoops to places such as Somalia and South Sudan.
Ujiri’s humanitarian initiatives also include community involvement in Canada, ranging from school visits to new courts, and forging a lasting friendship with students in the northern Saskatchewan community of La Loche, after they lived through the devastation of a deadly school shooting.
“Winning is what motivates me in life,” he said, repeating a consistent sentiment he has shared at many events. “I compete to win on the court, and to win off the court, and as we do it, we have to bring people along.”
The 52-year-old executive, husband and father of three travels to Africa in the off-seasons. This summer is a big one. Giants of Africa will mark its 20th anniversary with a week-long festival in Kigali, Rwanda, combining basketball, education, culture and entertainment, gathering 250 youth from 16 African countries.
While it would be simple to write a cheque for camps and new courts, while staying focused on the busy, high-pressure life of a front-office job with an NBA team, Ujiri insists on being there in person for Giants of Africa events.
“Presence is the value of interacting with human beings, and you can never, ever replace it,” he said. “It’s hard sometimes, but that’s a priority for me to be there.”
He’s built strong relationships with athletes, celebrities and world leaders, from Barack Obama to Justin Trudeau and President Paul Kagame of Rwanda.
The Order of Canada recognizes people across all sectors who have made extraordinary and sustained contributions. The list of 85 named Friday includes Canadians from a range of fields, like medical research, art, literature, music, advocacy, entertainment, philanthropy and academia.
“I’m glad I live in this country, because it’s been a blessing, going around in communities in Canada has been incredible for me,” Ujiri added. “I respect the country for accepting me and my family.”
Ujiri said it took him a little time to fully digest the true meaning of being inducted into the Order of Canada, as he learned more and talked to colleagues about it. He read through the decades of inductees, seeing many people he knows personally and admires, from Wayne Gretzky to Larry Tanenbaum and George Cope.
“I do feel strongly that there are so many people that deserve this more than me, but I am very appreciative and proud,” he said of the honour. “I don’t know if I’ve done anything yet; I feel like the work is just starting. I’m hopeful we can get the world to a better place.”
Ujiri thinks often about the world and its struggles, with things like racism, gun violence, and mental health. He reflects on the deaths of a couple of his friends who took their own lives.
“We all need each other in some kind of way; we need to be more positive, we need to pay attention to mental wellness,” he said. “So give somebody a smile, give somebody a lending hand, because you don’t know what people are going through.”