MLSE CEO provides reasoning for firing Masai Ujiri

MLSE CEO Keith Pelley spoke to media Friday afternoon after the announcement that Masai Ujiri was out.

After the announcement broke that Masai Ujiri and the Toronto Raptors had parted ways, MLSE (the company that owns the Raptors, Maple Leafs, Argonauts, and TFC) made their CEO, Keith Pelley, available. It was a strange, solemn event, and as much as Pelley was trying to keep it fairly light/transactional, it was hard to get past the haze of discomfort that was palpable.

That’s to be expected when a franchise loses its Giant, its heart and soul, and its leader. The effects of the Raptors losing Ujiri will be felt immediately, but his legacy will be remembered from the fond memories of how he took an underdog city and turned it into an epicentre of culture and pride.

We’ll get into the feelings and upset as we process the end of the Masai Ujiri chapter, but the purpose of this post in particular is to recap the press conference. To do that, I think it’s most efficient to lay out the bullet point takeaways of Pelley’s 20-minute conference at Scotiabank Arena.

• It’s evident from Pelley’s remarks that Masai Ujiri knew this was coming. There was no big blowout fight, no implosion of the makeup of this front office. Pelley was clear that there had been ongoing discussions between him and Ujiri about the future of their partnership. Ujiri likely would have been open to extending his contract, which was set to expire in one year. From the dissolution of the partnership, it seemed like Pelley was not interested in that. All of this has been reported on in the past year or so. With the changes happening at MLSE, most notably the departure of Larry Tanenbaum from ownership and leadership, there has been a disalignment between MLSE and Ujiri. It’s been clear for years that Ujiri worked with Tanenbaum the most out of all of them, so without him, there wasn’t a staunch Ujiri advocate in the room.

• Last time Ujiri’s contract was renewed a few years ago, and it was clear from reporting by Doug Smith that there were some among the MLSE board who thought they were overpaying for Ujiri. Again, it seemed to be Tanenbaum who created a compromise for both sides. With Ujiri eligible for a contract extension again now, the highly revered NBA executive would have wanted a (deserved) raise. Add on the fact that the Raptors team has been in a rebuild, there haven’t been results (aka playoff runs), and MLSE (like the entire world) is figuring out how to cut costs, moving on now makes sense in a way. The Raptors want to contend next year, and firing your president/just not renewing his contract looks worse after a successful year than after you just picked in the lottery.
• Masai Ujiri decided for himself when his last days would be. Pelley said this move had been confirmed nearly a month ago, but Ujiri thought it was best he leave after the NBA Draft. In a way, he ensures continuity for the front office, coaching staff and players. This info also makes it clear that the separation was as amicable as possible. Ujiri still wanted the best for this franchise, a reality that twists the knife a little more.

• MLSE appears to not only want to save money on their President’s contract, but may want to have a bit more control over the Raptors as a team. Not only will a new, first-time team president cost them less money, but they will have more ability to mould the next president. Ujiri, as mentioned, is a Giant. He carries an aura that makes you want to follow him, and he’s grown into a fierce and independent leader. A board of (to call it what it is) suits with no basketball experience isn’t going to tell him how to run his basketball team. They may be able to do that for someone ‘greener’.
• The team will now look for a new president. Unlike their plan for the Toronto Maple Leafs, which includes not having a president for the team, Pelley plans to hire a Raptors President. He described Ujiri’s replacement as someone “who has big shoes to fill” and also used terms like “established businessman.” Not to get too into semantics, but guess that means they are overlooking female candidates, haha.
• Pelley used the word “stability” a lot, which was odd. He described this as the right time to make the move because they knew they had stability with Bobby Webster, with the current roster of players they have (including no free agents to negotiate with next week), and with Darko Rajakovic and his staff. Yet, moving on from the culture-setter of your franchise, mid-way through a rebuild, does not read as stable. If they wanted to do it, they were going to do it, but the team doesn’t feel too stable.

• Bobby Webster is a candidate for the President’s job. It makes sense, and it’s a good move in theory. You ensure continuity in operations with Webster taking on the reins, as he was recruited and trained by Ujiri himself. Webster’s philosophies, goals, and ideas for the team are all the same as Ujiri’s — yet Webster’s contract would be cheaper. It ensures you don’t change much, while on paper, everything changes.
• Many of the other specific questions asked in the presser were not answered. One that stood out to me was when Doug Smith asked, “What will a new president have that Masai Ujiri did not?” That was a great way of contextualizing this whole thing. There was no firm answer to the question, but the question itself was enough. We can all theorize on reasons this partnership between Masai and MLSE didn’t pan out, but none of them were that he isn’t a good leader.
• We are entering a new chapter of this franchise, culturally, and there is no way to be prepared for what’s next. No more Masai, which means this team will no longer have an affiliation with Giants of Africa (a devastating loss in itself). NBA TV Canada programming is being gutted, no more Raptors Today and many other forms of the content fans enjoy (Open Gym seems to be safe for now). Prices to get into games continue to rise, which comes with its own set of struggles. The little slashes have been seen everywhere, if you’re looking. Recession indicator? Sure. Yet, there is also something to be said about 13 years of culture building at risk of being eradicated. The culture of this franchise is within the fans, within the heart of a diverse city, and until this morning, was linked to the business ventures of a basketball team through a leader who had shared values with the people who love the team. There was a balance between mind and soul. Take away the cultural heartbeat of the team, lose that connection to the fans and risk turning a phenomenon of sport into a corporate money machine.