Masai Ujiri is out as vice chairman and president after 13 seasons with the Toronto Raptors, the team announced on Friday.
The team is keeping key front office personnel in place, including general manager Bobby Webster, while the search for Ujiri’s replacement begins.
“During his 13 seasons with the Raptors, Masai has helped transform the organization on the court and has been an inspirational leader off it,” MLSE president & CEO Keith Pelley said in a statement. “He brought an NBA Championship to Toronto and urged us to believe in this city, and ourselves. We are grateful for all he has done and wish him and his family the very best.
“We are confident that the Raptors organization, under the guidance of Bobby and his team, is in a great place,” Pelley added. “They have a plan in place for next season and beyond as the team continues its rebuild, and we have confidence in their ability to execute and ultimately, to excel.”
Webster was given a contract extension, the team announced, though terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Thank you, Masai pic.twitter.com/jRLyBYEKN3
— Toronto Raptors (@Raptors) June 27, 2025
Ujiri’s departure comes a day after the conclusion of the NBA draft and just before the start of free agency which begins Monday.
The Raptors went 30-52 this past season and missed the postseason for the third straight year.
Ujiri, who was entering the final year of his contract, joined the Raptors as general manager in 2013, winning the NBA’s Executive of the Year Award that season, before leading Toronto to the franchise’s only NBA title in 2019, the only team outside of the United States to accomplish the feat.
He played college basketball at Bismarck State College, a juco, and then Montana State. After a brief professional playing career in Europe, he began his career off the court as a scout in 2002 and landed his first GM job with the Denver Nuggets in 2011.
Ujiri, 54, grew up in Zaria, Nigeria. His strong ties to Africa and philanthropic endeavors helped him become the director of the NBA’s Basketball Without Borders program in 2003, the same year he established a nonprofit called Giants of Africa in his hometown. That organization has expanded across more than a dozen African countries, holding camps and building basketball infrastructure as a way to identify and develop basketball talent, as well as enriching the lives of youth on the continent and encouraging them to chase their dreams.
