For most NBA fans, All-Star Weekend is about highlight-reel dunks and amazing displays of skill. But for Raptors President & GM MASAI UJIRI, this year’s event is about showing the world what the city of Toronto has to offer. Additionally, he continues to focus his efforts toward growing the game around the globe, including his native Africa. Ujiri: “We feel very privileged that the NBA took this jump to have the game in an international city. We feel like a global team, and this gives us a platform to express ourselves in many ways. People get to see our city and the diversity of a place like Toronto. It is going to be a very unique experience.”
SETTING A SCREEN: The All-Star Weekend starts for me on Thursday with my event for the Giants of Africa. We are screening a sneak preview of a documentary on the camps we have done on the continent since ’03. We partnered with TIFF and it is going to be held at the Bell Lightbox in front of about 550 people.
LET THE GAMES BEGIN: Friday starts bright and early for me. I am on a panel at the Tech Summit that is hosted by Commissioner ADAM SILVER. I also have to make an appearance at the Basketball Without Borders camp, which is a global camp that the NBA has done for many years. I was the Director of the camp in Africa, but I have also done it in South America and Asia as well. We have the Rising Stars game that night, and then MLSE is hosting a dinner for the owners with a little celebration and concert afterwards.
AFRICA UNITE: I have a couple of formal meetings on Saturday morning. Rwanda President PAUL KAGAME will be in town, and I will be hosting him at the NBA Africa luncheon. It is just an interaction on how we can grow the game, affect youth more and grow the business of basketball and sports in Africa. After that, I have a fireside chat at the Daniels Spectrum in which I am speaking to about 200 students on all the good stuff to maybe help inspire them a little bit. Then, obviously, we have the Skills Competition and Dunk Contest on Saturday night. After the festivities, I am hosting some of my closer friends for dinner and just hanging out with a cool group of people that I have worked with.
WE THE NORTH: Sunday is going to be great. I am attending the Legends Brunch that morning, and then I'd like to do a couple of things with my family. I have not figured it out yet, but I will take my daughter somewhere All-Star related. We have KYLE LOWRY and DEMAR DEROZAN playing in the big game. It will be really cool just to watch an All-Star Game in Toronto -- for the fans, for the players, for everybody. It will be a special Sunday.
