‘It’s a national shame’ — Masai Ujiri, top NBA manager, asks FG to end basketball ban

Masai Ujiri, the vice-chairman and president of Toronto Raptors, has called for a stop to the crisis currently bedevilling the Nigeria basketball, saying it portends irreversible backwardness.

Speaking on Sunday, the Nigerian-born Ujiri, who is co-founder of Giants of Africa, an internationally acclaimed non-governmental organisation, said the crisis tearing the Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF) apart had robbed the youth of their present and future.

“I think this has got to stop without further delay in the interest of the country. The latest decision by the Federal Government to withdraw from international basketball and the subsequent ban by Federation of International Basketball Associations (FIBA) would have a four-year destructive implications for the sport,” he said.

“It is unfortunate that D’Tigress will be unable to compete in the World Cup in September while the men’s team’s chances of qualifying for the Paris Olympics are in peril.

“This is not only profoundly disappointing but is also deflating and a national shame, coming at a time that Nigeria has made leaps and bounds in basketball and has risen to the top.”

Ujiri also lamented that the federal government’s withdrawal action could dissuade patriotic Nigerian players in the diaspora from representing the country in the future.

“We know how we got to this dreadful situation. Nigeria has traditionally treated sports as purely recreational rather than a serious business or a tool for nation building and economic transformation,” he also said.

According to Ujiri, Nigeria had remained in sports infrastructural deficit for decades while other countries on the continent have advanced in the area for the benefit of their sports.

“The decision makers in Nigeria sports lack the vision and expertise required to nurture the talent and abilities that the country presents. It is time for a new narrative if we desire to maximise our potential,” he said.

Ujiri is a top manager in the National Basketball Association (NBA). The NBA is the world’s premier men’s professional basketball league in North America.

The league is composed of 30 teams and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada.

In 2010, Ujiri became the first African general manager in US professional sports when he joined the NBA’s Denver Nuggets.

He achieved another milestone when he became the president of the Toronto Raptors in 2013.

Six years later, Ujiri led Toronto Raptors, a Canadian basketball team, to become the first club outside of the United States to win an NBA championship.