Toronto President of Basketball Operations Masai Ujiri is the man of the hour in the NBA executive world after pulling all the right strings to bring the Raptors their first title in franchise history, but not everyone knows who he is.
Following the final buzzer of Game 6, Ujiri was apparently involved in an altercation with an Alameda County Sheriff Deputy while trying to make his way onto the court to celebrate the title with his players, without a proper credential. Per NBC Bay Area:
A sheriff’s deputy was allegedly pushed and struck in the face by a Toronto Raptors executive who was trying to make his way to the court after Game 6 of the NBA Finals at Oracle Arena Thursday, the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office said.
The incident occurred moments after the Raptors defeated the Golden State Warriors to give Canada its first-ever NBA championship. Sheriff’s officials said the deputy denied the executive access to the court because he didn’t have proper credentials.
Witnesses on the scene tell NBC Bay Area the Raptors executive involved in the altercation is Masai Ujiri, the team’s president of basketball operations and former general manager.
Here’s video of the incident that seems to clearly show Ujiri and the cop getting into it. Eventually he made it onto the court and surely took the celebrating from there.
#BREAKING: Sheriff’s deputy reportedly pushed and struck in the face by a man believed to be a Toronto Raptors executive after Game 6 of the #NBAFinals at Oracle Arena, @ACSOSheriffs says. https://t.co/fobdK9iWEq pic.twitter.com/a4X0IysY5Z
— Kristofer Noceda (@krisnoceda) June 14, 2019
My bad. He’s the president of the Raptors.
he might be my new hero pic.twitter.com/PU0RuBAZu4
— BEN BALLER
(@BENBALLER) June 14, 2019