MEN OF THE WORLD BRING LEADERSHIP TO SPORTS GIANT
Big-picture thinkers brought diversity to Raptors, Maple Leafs and Argonauts
Masai Ujiri was in the newspaper and on the national news and on social media. For a moment in all this madness, with America burning, with a virus attacking, with economics crumbling, with every reason to be outraged about police brutality and racism — there was an instant to think: How fortunate we are to have him in Canada.
Masai, it never sounds right to call him by his last name, can bring a sense of calm and a sense of passion, a sense of humanity and a sense of dignity to the worst of situations.
And you want to line up right behind him when he speaks. And you want him to lead the charge.
Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment can be a hard company to like. They own the Maple Leafs and the Raptors and the Marlies and Toronto FC and the Argos and the Scotiabank Arena, and just about everything else they want to own. They charge too much for tickets and concessions, and often seem to have a disregard for the paying customer.
And then you take a step back and look and see who’s in charge of their teams: Masai heading up the Raptors. Pinball Clemons heading up the Argonauts. Brendan Shanahan in charge of the Leafs. All of them big-picture thinkers. All of them not just believing in diversity, but acting upon it. All of them involved with more than their sports, more than their teams.
And you have to credit Larry Tanenbaum in conjunction with his former CEO, Tim Leiweke, for bringing such enlightened leadership to the Toronto sporting scene, and in the case of the Raptors, the national sporting scene.
Not that long ago, Brian Burke was in charge of the Leafs,
Bryan Colangelo in charge of the Raptors, Jim Barker in charge of the Argos. Not that there was anything completely wrong with those choices — they all had certain strengths — but none of them had the sense of community and depth comparable to those currently in position.
Colangelo is no longer working in an executive capacity in the NBA and Burke is no longer working in an executive capacity in the NHL. Barker is involved with the Hamilton Tiger-cats, but not in a senior position.
They were, for the most part, general managers. They weren’t necessarily people of the world.
Masai was something of a national treasure before the Raptors won their championship last June. With the NBA win, he has become a figure for the ages.
And when there’s a crisis or a controversy, the Globe and Mail calls and asks for his words. He sits next to the legendary Lisa Laflamme on the CTV National News a day or two later. His thoughts matter. On sports and on life.
Masai has a woman working in a senior executive position in the diverse front office of the Raptors and fields team with players from Canada, Cameroon, the United States, the United Kingdom, the Republic of Congo and Spain.
The only international team in the NBA with really, the most international lineup.
He has his annual tribute to Nelson Mandela event and his Giants of Africa camp every summer. His work on one continent is as significant or more important than his work on another.
Pinball Clemons is as remarkable a man as I’ve ever known. His smile can light up a room.
His words can inspire the disinterested.
He used to make his living, primarily, by speaking. Until he had to come back to try bailing out his beloved Argonauts. That’s always been his passion.
His foundation has built schools in Africa, sent kids from the Jane-finch corridor to camp, has worked with Habitat for Humanity, has provided meals for those who are hungry. And that’s just a portion of his contribution. The city is fortunate to have Pinball Clemons.
Shanahan’s contributions aren’t as overt but shouldn’t be minimized.
He organized the Shanahan Summit during the lockout of 2004-05 that essentially changed the way hockey is played. He was the senior vice-president of the NHL before he came on to run the Maple Leafs. He brought in Lou Lamoriello, Kyle Dubas, Mike Babcock, Dr. Hayley Wickenheiser to work with the Leafs, each of those decisions improbable and unconventional at the time.
He wants to be surrounded by thinkers, not those who agree with him. He wants to challenge conventional wisdom. He understands the special place the Leafs hold in the community and he is demanding yet patient, loyal but practical, forever curious and all the while progressive.
He is someone worth looking up to.
There are no sports being played right now in this country. There is nothing to follow but news and anger and frustration and demonstration and isolation. It can weigh on you. And there is this giant sporting conglomerate here that’s so easy to dislike with its overt arrogance until you realize who is running its teams and how fortunate we are to have sporting men of such quality here.