The greatest moment of his professional career was ruined, Masai Ujiri says, simply because of the colour of his skin.
In his first statement since body-cam video evidence became public of an Alameda, Calif. sheriff’s deputy violently shoving the Raptors president minutes after Toronto won the NBA title in June 2019, Ujiri makes clear why he thinks it happened.
“I was reminded in that moment that despite all of my hard work and success, there are some people, including those who are supposed to protect us, who will always and only see me as something that is unworthy of respectful engagement,” Ujiri said in a statement released Thursday.