Masai Ujiri, the newly appointed vice-chairman and president of the Toronto Raptors, made his first public comments Wednesday since it was announced that he was returning to the club that he’s helped define on a new contract – and that new shiny title – back near the beginning of August.
For about 45 minutes, Ujiri held court with an assembled group of media at Hotel X by the exhibition grounds in downtown Toronto.
Over the course of that time, Ujiri touched on a number of topics including what his new title means, exactly, the outgoing Kyle Lowry, the competitive future of the club and the question of if the Raptors will be able to play games in Toronto this coming season.
Here are a few highlights from Ujiri’s media availability on Wednesday.
Raptors want to play in Toronto and don’t have plans for any alternative
Front of mind heading into the rapidly-coming 2021-22 season is whether or not they’ll be allowed to play their home games in Toronto again next season.
Seeing other Toronto pro sports teams like the Toronto Blue Jays and Toronto FC hosting games from the friendly confines of Rogers Centre and BMO Field, respectively, is an encouraging sign that Scotiabank Arena will be hosting Raptors basketball games next season, but that’s still to be determined.
Though nothing is settled on that front yet, Ujiri was emphatic Wednesday in his desire to play back home in Toronto.
“We continue to have lot of discussions about this and our hope is that we’re playing at home,” Ujiri said. “We have no interest, we have not looked elsewhere, we are not going to look elsewhere, we’re playing at home; we’re trying to play at home. That’s the goal for us.
“I told Larry [Tanenbaum] and Adam [Silver] and even Prime Minister Trudeau that playing away set us back a couple of years and we know that, we are ready for that challenge. Playing another year somewhere else will set us back five years. We are not trying to do that.
“We understand all the public health concerns, issues, we’re taking measures. As you saw, we came up with our policy with MLSE on how we intend to even fill out our arenas as we go forward here, as we try to play at home.
“To your question, we’ve talked to the league, we’ve talked to public health officials, we’ve talked obviously with ownership, we’re all together on how we want to get back to at least being safe and trying to get back to a little bit of normal.”
On Tuesday, MLSE, the ownership group of the Raptors, issued a statement (LINK: https://www.sportsnet.ca/nhl/article/mlse-introduce-updated-covid-19-protocols-buildings-september/) saying that they’ll require any employees, event staff or guests entering a venue owned by the organization to show proof of vaccination against COVID-19 or that they had tested negative for the disease come mid September.
This appears to be an indication from MLSE that they’re preparing to host guests at Scotiabank Arena for Toronto Maple Leafs and Raptors games and given how adamant Ujiri was about the matter, surely this means we’ll have live NBA hoops in Toronto again doesn’t it?
“Kyle is the best Raptor”
The Raptors’ off-season has been headline by two gigantic moves for the franchise. Ujiri staying on long-term with the club was, of course, one, and the other was the departure of iconic Raptors point guard Lowry after nine seasons in Toronto where he built up what’s likely a Hall-of-Fame résumé and became known as the best player to ever play for the franchise in many an observer’s eyes, including his now-former boss’s.
“I want to talk about Kyle and it’s been really tough for us to see an incredible player like that go,” Ujiri said. “I had really extensive conversations with Kyle and it was great to spend a lot of time with him in last year in Tampa. And we knew this was coming. The direction of our team was kind of going younger and Kyle still has his incredible goals. Kyle wanted to be here, too, if that was what we were trying to do. We saw our team as kind of being in the middle ground a little bit and wanted to go a little younger so we can start to grow, almost like when Kyle was here in the beginning.
“What that guy has done for this organization, what he has done for this community, his participation in everything that we can ask for. I mean, Kyle had, we had ups and downs here, but I’m telling but even the measure of it when you look at it, the downs were this much. It was great to grow with him here.
“We wish him all the best where he is. He’s in great hands in Miami and that organization. We know their standards and what they want to do. We just hope we beat them four times a year and we’ll be good that way.
“We can’t wait to have him back when we play them here. Yes, we compete in this business and Kyle is part of this family and he’ll be part of this family forever. And I know people ask, I know Larry has already mentioned his jersey, he’s going to get all of everything and some. Is Kyle the greatest Raptor that ever played the game here? Yes, he is. I’m saying it here. Kyle is the best Raptor to play the game over the course of his time.
“It’s incredible what he achieved here, what he took on, growing as a man, his family, Ayahna, the kids, we love them, they are part of us, and they’ll be part of us for a long time. So I know we’ll talk about this for a long time, we’ll talk about this during the year, but I wanted to pay particular attention to what Kyle Lowry has done for us. We owe it to him. He takes so much pride. I know the pride that he took in this organization, this city, and the people of Toronto and Canada as a whole.”
That’s about as effusive praise as you’ll likely ever hear from an executive talking about a player who left the organization, and, as Ujiri said, is well earned given all that Lowry did for the Raptors as an organization.
Ujiri is confident in the roster he’s building
So, as you may have noticed, the Raptors have apparently narrowed in on a specific type of player they like this off-season and have added a bunch of them.
This type being a player who’s about six-foot-eight or six-foot-nine with a seven-foot-plus wingspan, blessed with tremendous athleticism and capable of defending multiple positions.
On paper it doesn’t seem all that bad, but it has been met with some skepticism whether or not this stratagem will work – including from this very author.
Ultimately, of course, it doesn’t matter what anyone else thinks of what the roster might look like as long as the boss is happy with it and Ujiri seemed quite confident that the team he, Bobby Webster and their staff is building will be championship quality at some point in the future.
“First of all, we are going to create our own direction,” said Ujiri. “We don’t have to go with the wave of what the NBA is doing, we are such a copycat league … and we have to, I think, right now, ride opportunities and for now our opportunities are I think building around the young players that we have.
“We have very young veterans, they are almost at the same age when we had Kyle and DeMar [DeRozan], there’s Fred [VanVleet], there’s OG [Anunoby], there’s Pascal [Siakam]. We want to build around these guys, and the [Chris] Bouchers, the Khem Birches.
“All these players, they have a level that they need to get to and then there’s the young crop. You guys saw coming up, we just drafted Scottie Barnes and Dalano [Banton], we just got Precious [Achiuwa] in a trade, Malachi [Flynn]. All these guys we want to really develop in some kind of way and I think we have some kind of good history from doing that.
“Our three main players come from our development program, I said it here when I sat here eight years ago, ‘We are going to develop players and we are going to build on that.’ [Now] I’m saying it again: We are going to continue to develop these players and we’re going to find a way to win a championship here based on our development of our players.
“And whatever comes from that, sometimes trades, sometimes you acquire through free agency, we just are not going to sit here and cry that players are not coming here. That’s not what we’re about. I think we’ve gone past that.”
And to that point about development, Ujiri appeared about the potential that No. 4 overall pick Scottie Barnes presents for this Raptors team.
“He was just a player that excited all of us. Knock on wood he has an incredible career ahead of him, But the passion for the game, the levels he’s played at on USA Basketball, U-16, U-18, he’s won at every level,” Ujiri said of Barnes. “It’s crazy when you interview a guy like that and he mentions winning or win 34 times in one interview. All he talks about is winning. This is what we wanted to bring.
“And also, one day we want to play big and long. You look at him, you look at Pascal, you look at OG you look at Boucher, you look at all these players and you look at the feistiness of Fred, of all of them, there is something exciting about these kind of players.”
Certainly doesn’t sound like Siakam is being shopped any time soon
And while on the topic of the roster as constructed now, despite noise during the off-season that Siakam might be on the trading block, to hear it from Ujiri it seems that couldn’t be farther from the truth.
“I know the fanbase, I know people are being hard on him, but trust me, Pascal is a prideful man,” Ujiri said. “Pascal is an unbelievable basketball player. Maybe because he wasn’t playing well, people come up with all this stuff. Pascal is here. Pascal is a Raptor and he’s gonna play with us.”
To add to this, Ujiri also said that he knows that “him and Nick [Nurse] have got to a much, much better place,” referencing the apparent tiff between the Raptors coach and their star forward last season when Siakam reportedly got in a verbal altercation with Nurse after a March game against the Cleveland Cavaliers.
So while it may have seemed logical that the Raptors might consider moving Siakam, especially after they drafted Barnes, Ujiri has indicated otherwise and we should now probably expect to see how a Raptors team led by both Siakam and Barnes might look.
A tampering investigation update
A couple days after the Raptors’ sign-and-trade with the Miami Heat that sent Lowry to South Beach and Achiuwa and Goran Dragic to Toronto was made official, the NBA launched an investigation for tampering violations in the transaction.
So far there hasn’t been much that the Raptors have been able to say about the ongoing investigation except that they’re cooperating with it, but on Wednesday Ujiri provided a small update on how things are proceeding.
“It’s incredible how every NBA team had a deal done by 6:02, no? I don’t know how it happened but all I know is I gave my phone for the investigation. Yeah, I have no comment.”
An update, no matter how minuscule, is still an update.
TORONTO – Reigning PWHL MVP and scoring champ Natalie Spooner will miss the start of the regular season for the Toronto Sceptres, general manager Gina Kingsbury announced Tuesday on the first day of training camp.
The 33-year-old Spooner had knee surgery on her left anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) after she was checked into the boards by Minnesota’s Grace Zumwinkle in Game 3 of their best-of-five semifinal series on May 13.
She had a goal and an assist in three playoff games but did not finish the series. Toronto was up 2-1 in the semifinal at that time and eventually fell 3-2 in the series.
Spooner led the PWHL with 27 points in 24 games. Her 20 goals, including five game-winners, were nine more than the closest skater.
Kingsbury said there is no timeline, as the team wants the Toronto native at 100 per cent, but added that “she is doing really well” in her recovery.
The Sceptres open the PWHL season on Nov. 30 when they host the Boston Fleet.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 12, 2024.
LAHORE, Pakistan (AP) — A top official of the Pakistan Cricket Board declined Friday to confirm media reports that India has decided against playing any games in host Pakistan during next year’s Champions Trophy.
“My view is if there’s any problems, they (India) should tell us in writing,” PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi told reporters in Lahore. “I’ll share that with the media as well as with the government as soon as I get such a letter.”
Indian media reported Friday that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has communicated its concerns to all the Champions Trophy stakeholders, including the PCB, over the Feb. 19-March 9 tournament and would not play in arch-rival Pakistan.
The Times of India said that “Dubai is a strong candidate to host the fixtures involving the Men in Blue” for the 50-over tournament.
Such a solution would see Pakistan having to travel to a neutral venue to play India in a group match, with another potential meeting later in the tournament if both teams advanced from their group. The final is scheduled for March 9 in Pakistan with the specific venue not yet decided.
“Our stance is clear,” Naqvi said. “They need to give us in writing any objections they may have. Until now, no discussion of the hybrid model has happened, nor are we prepared to accept one.”
Political tensions have stopped bilateral cricket between the two nations since 2008 and they have competed in only multi-nation tournaments, including ICC World Cups.
“Cricket should be free of politics,” Naqvi said. “Any sport should not be entangled with politics. Our preparations for the Champions Trophy will continue unabated, and this will be a successful event.”
The PCB has already spent millions of dollars on the upgrade of stadiums in Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi which are due to host 15 Champions Trophy games. Naqvi hoped all the three stadiums will be ready over the next two months.
“Almost every country wants the Champions Trophy to be played here (in Pakistan),” Naqvi said. “I don’t think anyone should make this a political matter, and I don’t expect they will. I expect the tournament will be held at the home of the official hosts.”
Eight countries – Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, England, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand and Afghanistan – are due to compete in the tournament, the schedule of which is yet to be announced by the International Cricket Council.
“Normally the ICC announces the schedule of any major tournament 100 days before the event, and I hope they will announce it very soon,” Naqvi said.
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – Ottawa‘s Gabriela Dabrowski and Erin Routliffe of New Zealand are through to the doubles final at the WTA Finals after a 7-6 (7), 6-1 victory over Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the United States and Australia’s Ellen Perez in semifinal action Friday.
Dabrowski and Routliffe won a hard-fought first set against serve when Routliffe’s quick reaction at the net to defend a Perez shot gave the duo set point, causing Perez to throw down her racket in frustration.
The second seeds then cruised through the second set, winning match point on serve when Melichar-Martinez couldn’t handle Routliffe’s shot.
The showdown was a rematch of last year’s semifinal, which Melichar-Martinez and Perez won in a super tiebreak.
Dabrowski and Routliffe will face the winner of a match between Katerina Siniakova and Taylor Townsend, and Hao-Ching Chan and Veronika Kudermetova in the final on Saturday.
Dabrowski is aiming to become the first Canadian to win a WTA Finals title.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.
