Photo: Giants of Africa
Folks around the NBA know Masai Ujiri as the President of the Toronto Raptors, but his basketball presence is felt on a global level. That’s because he spends his offseason running the Giants of Africa basketball camp for teens in Nigeria.
Ujiri grew up in Zaria, Nigeria playing soccer before he found basketball at 13 years old. His mother was a doctor and his father was a hospital administrator. Both of them encouraged their son to go make a positive difference in the world.
Ujiri played college ball in the U.S. and professionally in Europe. Then he started coaching and moved into and up the NBA ranks before falling into his current role with the Raptors in 2013.
Every August for the last 13 years, Ujiri’s Giants of Africa Camp has welcomed athletes and shown them not only how to be great players on the hardwood, but demonstrated how to improve their country and continent.
“There are many ways of reaching out to people all around the world, but one of the best ways is through sports. That’s the honest truth,” Ujiri told the Toronto Sun. “You can teach them basketball fundamentals for five minutes and then you can talk about respecting women, being honest, being on time and health awareness. They listen a little bit more than if you lock them up in a room and start pounding them with information.
“We want kids to dream big — that’s one of the reasons I do this.”
Before his camp in 2015, he found a film crew with the intention of making a documentary to capture the essence and impact of the camp. Giants of Africa opened in select theaters on Friday.
“This game will take you places. It will take you places that you’ve never been,” Ujiri told youth in the trailer for the documentary. “You’re going to be successful and nobody is going to hold you down.”
He also added, “Our continent is going to be great. I hope I’m alive when it is.”
Here’s a preview of the film.
That’s the NBA’s 2013 Executive of the Year for you. That’s also a man whose legacy will carry far beyond the NBA.
