Masai Ujiri is the architect of the Toronto Raptors' huge championship victory in 2019 and over the past couple of years, there has been an extended effort to keep him in Toronto. There have always been rumors about which teams and what leagues want Ujiri to run their operation and it's been hard for the Raptors and their owners to remain competitive. While most of the Raptors ownership team respects Ujiri immensely, there is at least one person praying on his downfall.
According to a brand new report from The Toronto Star, the former chairman of Rogers Communications, Edward Rogers, tried desperately to make sure Ujiri didn't want to come back. According to the bombshell article, Rogers had a meeting with Ujiri and afterward, described the Raptors president as arrogant while trying to claim that he brought bodyguards to the meeting. In reality, Ujiri was there with his driver and a camera person who was doing content for Ujiri's non-profit organization Giants of Africa.
After this meeting, Rogers called Ujiri to tell him that he wasn't worth the money that the rest of the owners wanted to pay him. Understandably, Ujiri was shocked and almost took a year off from the franchise.
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Rogers owns 37.5 percent of the company while Bell owns the same amount. From there, the last 25 percent is owned by Larry Tanenbaum who runs the ownership group MLSE. With Rogers trying to create a power grab, Bell and Tanenbaum were able to overrule him. They then made sure that Ujiri got the contract that he deserved, and now, the team President will be with the franchise for years to come.
As for Rogers, he is no longer the chairman of the company as the board ultimately kicked him out. Needless to say, being a hater doesn't get you very far in this world, and Ujiri has gotten the last laugh.
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[Via]