Raptors President of Basketball Operations & GM Masai Ujiri "was fined $35,000 and the team docked $25,000 by the NBA on Sunday for his expletive" on Saturday "when addressing fans before the Raptors' playoff opener" at Air Canada Centre, according to the AP. Ujiri on Saturday said, "People want me to say something about [Wizards F] Paul Pierce but, we don't give a (expletive) about 'it.'" NBA Commissioner Adam Silver attended the game, and Ujiri yesterday said, "I have the deepest respect for Commissioner Silver and the NBA, and while showing passion for our team and fans I will choose my words more carefully in the future so as not to indicate otherwise" Ujiri last year "was fined $25,000 by the NBA for ending a speech with an expletive" before the team's postseason opener against the Nets (AP, 4/19). ESPN.com's Brian Windhorst notes Ujiri earlier last week "hinted a possible fine would keep him from firing back at Pierce this year." Ujiri said, "I honestly don't have enough money to respond to him." Silver said Ujiri's comments were "not appropriate" (ESPN.com, 4/18).
ALL MY ROWDY FRIENDS: In Toronto, Ryan Wolstat noted Raptors fans on Saturday "packed Maple Leaf Square, rebranded as Jurassic Park." The mob "was singing Drake songs, cursing at the Wizards and at Public Enemy No. 1 Paul Pierce in a variety of creative ways." But the "best part might have been" when Wizards Owner Ted Leonsis "walked out with some friends and possibly fellow ownership group members in Wizards team jackets." The "rowdy crowd showered the group with boos and expletives" (TORONTO SUN, 4/19). The GLOBE & MAIL's Rachel Brady noted the crowd inside Air Canada Centre "was cloaked in white shirts with a red '6' on the back, a nod to the 416 by Drake’s October’s Very Own." The noise "was deafening, the energy wildly intimidating" (GLOBE & MAIL, 4/19).
HOOPS OVER HOCKEY? The GLOBE & MAIL's Cathal Kelly wrote under the header, "Raptors Are About To Make Toronto A Basketball-First City." Kelly: "It’s over for the foreseeable future. Hockey’s out; basketball takes its place." He added, "Toronto needs something. It’s more than a confidence boost. It’s an ego-reclamation project. The Raptors are finally about to give it to us. ... We don’t just need the Raptors to win. We need them to save us from our descent into (quite reasonable) paranoia" (GLOBE & MAIL, 4/18).
