The range of Masai Ujiri’s concerns are vast.
Some are small, mundane and common such as how to deal with hands chapped from constant washing or noticing how often he touches his face on a video call.
Some are larger and unknowable: How will the pandemic affect the NBA season, or – even bigger – how it might affect less privileged parts of the world, like his native Africa and beyond.
This time of the year the Toronto Raptors president would be immersed in the overlapping spheres of basketball that he’s required to keep abreast of at all times.
He would be dividing his attention between the NCAA tournament, various high school all-star showcases and European basketball playoffs as part of the never-ending search for new talent. Closer to home Ujiri would be overseeing the defending NBA champion Raptors as they begin to position themselves for the playoffs.
If only.
Figuring out ‘load management’ doesn’t seem like such a big deal at the moment.
“I’ve lost where the other world is,” Ujiri said on a conference call Wednesday, his first comments since the NBA suspended play on March 11 and so many things across the globe have been upended due to COVID-19, the virus that has brought much of the world to a halt. “… We’re blessed that the last five, six years, however many, we’re always preparing for the post-season at this time. Very many things happening at this time. Until you said so, I haven’t really thought about it like that.”
Ujiri was on a scouting trip when the Raptors were playing in Utah and against Rudy Gobert, the Jazz centre whose positive test two days later prompted the NBA to put the season on hiatus, an event that is often pointed to as the tipping point in North America’s response to the spread of the virus.
He came to Toronto immediately and began assessing an entirely different set of priorities than were on his plate previously.
Are his team and the members of his organization safe? Is his family safe? What can he, the Raptors and Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment be doing to help manage an unprecedented global event?
“Everybody is human, and because we just played against Utah, you know, like there was reaction … I don’t want to say panic because … I think people, players everybody was really calm but concerned. I mean, rightly so,” Ujiri said. “And so we have to take action. I have to take action on deciding you know, like, we were at risk? At that point, you know, like we have to just figure out a way to address that for the people. I’m learning quickly about the rules and regulations of this and how we could really apply them, and then take action.”
But like everyone else he’s quickly realized there is only so much that can be done. For once he doesn’t have any more concrete answers than anyone else. The person who is in an airplane more than most heads of state has to stay home, keep his distance and wash his hands as much as possible.
“I never thought my hands could be this dry,” he said.
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Ujiri is by nature a people person, happy to travel and meet and talk and hug. Now it’s a steady drumbeat of conference calls and video meetings that he breaks up by taking time to do some homework with his daughter or play with his son.
“I think there is also some good to spending time with family and slowing down.”
The sudden shift in priorities means that the business of basketball has taken a back seat.
Ujiri – who has one year left on his contract with the Raptors at the conclusion of the 2019-20 season – has never publicly addressed whether he’s pursuing an extension with the Raptors or will consider other opportunities with other teams or even outside of basketball.
Similarly, much of the team’s basketball operations staff are entering the final year of their deals – including head coach Nick Nurse who was gaining momentum as a coach-of-the-year candidate before the season was suspended with the Raptors holding the NBA’s third-best record.
But those practical matters have been put on the backburner for the moment.
“No, honestly like to be fair, you know it’s not kind of where our minds are at right now, you know, like me certainly. This is a crucial time I think for the world, and those things will come. I’m fine, we’re fine. It’s honestly like the last thing on my mind.
“I’m concerned for the world and I’m concerned about this this pandemic and how we beat it, how we fight it. We have to win this one,” he said.
Not that he’s entirely removed from his basketball role. In a period of unprecedented uncertainty, he’s issued a challenge: Can his organization navigate these weeks or months such that they are better positioned than other clubs?
“That’s what I [am] doing in the sense of business of basketball: How do you come out of this better? How do you come out of this on top? That’s the competitive part and while we’re doing this, you know, just abiding by the rules and staying healthy.”
But otherwise?
“I’m basically stalking Dr. Fauci like the next NBA draft pick you know?” he said, referring to Dr. Anthony Fauci, the long-time director of the United States’ national institute of allergies and infectious diseases who has become one of the most trusted voices on COVID-19.
Dr. Fauci, NBA commissioner Adam Silver or Ujiri can’t solve the one riddle every basketball fan would love an answer for, however: Can the current NBA season be salvaged?
“That’s all of our hope. We love our game and we love what we do,” Ujiri said. “[But] honestly, for now, I think we salvage the NBA season by abiding by the rules and doing everything that we have to do as people, as a community, everything we possibly can. This is not about the NBA, NBA players, NBA fans. It’s about the whole world. This is something that hit globally.
“This is not an earthquake that hit in only one part of the world or a disease that is only in another part of the world or a tsunami — pardon me for mentioning all of these things. But this is affecting the whole world. We can want to plan the NBA all we want, and [want] it to come back all we want.
“[But] because it affects the whole world, something is going to stall that one way or the other, because we have not played by the rules.”
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Ujiri has roots in London, Kenya and Nigeria and with a special interest in Africa through his Giants of Africa foundation, so his concerns are wider than how COVID-19 affects the Raptors or the NBA. His foundation is planning the ‘GOA Festival’ in Kigali, Rwanda in mid-August, billed as ‘week-long celebration of basketball, education, culture and entertainment.’
He hasn’t felt compelled to postpone or cancel yet and holds out hope that things may normalize by then.
“I think GOA it’s really one of those things, those events, that I’m hoping it’s a feel-good event,” he said. “… We take time to plan but I think coming out of this there’s always something small or something to do to give people hope, to give youth hope. And as long as we’re abiding by the rules and as long as we’ve paid attention to what the experts are saying, we’ve always gone by what makes people happy; how do we give youth hope in times like this.”
But that’s as far he can go. Like everyone else, all Ujiri can do is look into the future in increments of weeks and months and hope for the best. He’s accustomed to getting people excited, drawing them to his many causes.
Now? He can only wait, follow the advice of experts, enjoy some extra family time and prepare for a new normal.
“It’s been tough, guys I’ll be honest,” he said. “Just being away from everything you do and you do so well, it’s been tough on everybody but this is time for us to rally, be together, be innovative and figure out a way forward.
“I know six, seven months ago we brought the world together in a really special way [with the Raptors championship run] and now I think it’s time we … bring people together by staying apart.”
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