Ujiri hopes good will come from incident
Masai Ujiri has reiterated his desire that his personal torment can lead to a great societal good.
In his first appearance since lawsuits with an Alameda County sheriff’s deputy were dropped early this month, the Raptors president pleaded for something good to come from his personal torment.
“The privilege of the job I have is to fight for this,” Ujiri said during an appearance Wednesday on ABC’s “Good Morning America.”
“They are wrongly accused, there (are) no body cams, nobody sees what happens, and they are incarcerated or they are accused or they are charged. We have to fight for them.”
Ujiri was sued by sheriff’s deputy Alan Strickland after an altercation minutes after the Raptors won the 2019 NBA championship in Oakland’s Oracle Arena.
Stark videotape of the incident clearly showed the officer striking the Raptors president as he tried to get on the court to join the championship celebration, denying Ujiri any true championship euphoria.
“We don’t just go buy championships in Walmart or something,” Ujiri said on the broadcast. “It’s something you’re trying so hard to do, and you’re trying to figure out, ‘How do I go and celebrate with my guys?’ And now you get this confrontation, and it confuses you, you know? And, honestly, I was confused. I was taken aback, and I didn’t know how to react.”
The Oakland sheriff’s office originally wanted Ujiri charged with assault, but eventually declined to press charges. It led to Stickland suing the Raptors president and a countersuit from Ujiri. The suits were dropped this month, 20 months after the incident.
And as he has since the beginning, Ujiri wants to use his own experience to educate others in the need for tolerance, understanding and improved race relations.
“I want people to really think about humanity and who we are as human beings,” he said. “It is really, really important we treat each other well.”