I was reminded in that moment that despite all of my hard work and success, there are some people, including those who are supposed to protect us, who will always and only see me as something that is unworthy of respectful engagement.
Ujiri speaks candidly about racism after release of body-cam video
And there’s only one indisputable reason why that is the case — because I am Black.
Statement from Raptors boss Masai Ujiri after video surfaces that shows him being shoved by a sheriff ’s deputy at the end of last season’s NBA Finals.
The greatest moment of his professional career was ruined, Masai Ujiri says, simply because of the colour of his skin.
In his first statement since body-cam video evidence became public of an Alameda, Calif., sheriff’s deputy violently shoving the Raptors president minutes after Toronto won the NBA title in June 2019, Ujiri makes clear why he thinks it happened.
“I was reminded in that moment that despite all of my hard work and success, there are some people, including those who are supposed to protect us, who will always and only see me as something that is unworthy of respectful engagement,” Ujiri said in a statement released Thursday. “And there’s only one indisputable reason why that is the case — because I am Black.”
Ujiri was blocked from joining the Raptors’ celebration on the court at Oracle Arena on the night of Toronto’s championship win by the deputy, Alan Strickland, who was working as a security guard and shoved Ujiri away twice when he tried to enter the court area, the video clearly shows. Strickland claimed Ujiri didn’t have proper credentials.
Strickland, claiming he was seriously injured in the incident, sued Ujiri for medical expenses, lost wages and other costs in excess of $75,000 (U.S.), alleging he suffered “permanent disability” along with “great mental, physical, emotional and psychological pain and suffering.”
This week, Ujiri, the Raptors, the NBA and MLSE filed a counterclaim.
“Mr. Strickland has promulgated disparaging and dehumanizing lies about Mr. Ujiri’s character in an attempt to justify Mr. Strickland’s wrongdoing … however, video footage and a number of eyewitness accounts establish that Mr. Ujiri was the victim of Mr. Strickland’s intentional conduct,” the counterclaim reads.
Ujiri said Thursday that his position gives him an advantage to take on a cop where others don’t have that luxury. “What saddens me most about this ordeal is that the only reason why I am getting the justice I deserve in this moment is because of my success,” his statement read. “Because I’m the President of an NBA team, I had access to resources that ensured I could demand and fight for my justice. So many of my brothers and sisters haven’t had, don’t have, and won’t have the same access to resources that assured my justice. And that’s why Black Lives Matter.”
It is a point not lost on the Raptors’ players, who have steadfastly supported Ujiri since the incident and continue to hammer home messages denouncing police brutality and social injustice.
“It shows why we’re supporting of Black Lives Matter,” point guard Kyle Lowry, who eventually escorted Ujiri onto the court to celebrate last June, said Thursday. “It shows why we need to get out there and vote. It shows why we need to get those guys to arrest the murderers of Breonna Taylor (killed in March in Kentucky), because there’s police officers like that officer out there.”
Ujiri’s reputation around the NBA is unsullied.
“He’s not a violent guy at all, one of the nicest men you’ll ever meet,” Garrett Temple of the Nets said Thursday.
That’s the issue for Ujiri and his players.
“And that’s why it’s important for all of us to keep demanding justice,” Ujiri’s statement reads. “… Justice for far too many Black lives that mattered. And justice for Black people around the world, who need our voice and our compassion to save their lives.”
“So many of my brothers and sisters haven’t had, don’t have, and won’t have the same access to resources that assured my justice.” MASAI UJIRI TORONTO RAPTORS PRESIDENT