Top 45 Masai Ujiri Quotes

Scouting is like CIA work and investigative work. You create a lot of stuff and try a lot of stuff. Some works and some doesn’t. I try to get creative.

As you can probably tell, the push to develop talent in Africa is personal. I grew up there. I played there. I know how much talent there is. We have to concentrate on building facilities, establishing successful leagues and finding investors to help young players.

I study history. I study the game. I study the NBA and the team I’m working for very, very closely.

Look at the teams that have been successful in the NBA. Yes, you have big, glamorous cities like L.A. But Miami has won, and so has San Antonio. Oklahoma City is a very successful team. They’re not the biggest markets.

A player from Africa who wins championships? That’s powerful.

Boy or girl, the youth of the world deserve opportunity and we as leaders have to be the ones that at least create a path for them.

The more you give, the more you grow.

I’ll always have a special place in my heart for the city of Denver and the Nuggets as an organization.

We all have weaknesses.

When my mom travelled, she would bring me basketball tapes.

We have something very special happening in Toronto and Drake is a big part of that.

People hear ‘Africa’ and they think about charitable commercials, or safari tours and animals. It’s our responsibility to help change that perspective.

Nelson Mandela knew that sport has the power to inspire and unite people in a way that little else does.

Giving back to our communities is huge.

Every GM will tell you it’s an instinct. It’s an instinct to be patient, to react, or act, or not to do anything at all. It just comes. What I can say is you must have a plan and a goal and a way to do things. At the end of the day, it’s an instinct. Sometimes it’s good. Sometimes it’s bad.

Every man, they say, ‘oh my wife is my boss.’ So why can’t they be bosses at work?

Two of the most difficult parts of our business is trades and when a player leaves.

I focus on very few things in life – my work, my family, my friends. Those things are important to me and I pay good attention to them, and everything else just comes and goes.

I couldn’t shoot. When I went to play in Europe, I learned to shoot better. I could jump, so people would just back off of me.

One of Giants of Africa’s fundamental mottos is – Dream Big. We believe that basketball can be used as a tool to educate and develop youth around the world to accomplish their dreams.

I was one of those athletic African players.

Kids in Africa start kicking a ball when they are six or seven years old, if not younger. It’s like baseball, basketball and football in America. If you’re talented, people will find you. That’s what happened with soccer. The number of academies has grown rapidly, and people are really into it.

This is a team sport, a team game.

There were great European players that were great basketball players that did not make it in the NBA… This is the best league in the world.

As leaders, I think we have to give people in many places a chance to have success, not continue to put those people down.

Honestly… I’ve never felt pressure working in basketball. There’s no pressure at all. If it doesn’t work, it doesn’t work.

You don’t have to be a leader of a big organization. You can be a leader of your brother, of a young kid, of your community. That way you affect life, someway, somehow.

Players want to go where the team wins and where the team has a great culture, ownership and all of that. It doesn’t matter where you are. It really doesn’t matter, you have to perform and you have to win.

Our job is to find out what’s the next thing that is going to be advantageous to us and contribute to winning.

You have to be unique in your own ways and the ways that you play to find a way to win. You can’t always go with the trend that’s going on. Sometimes you have to create the trend yourself and be confident in it.

Be very proud of your name and where you come from. It’s so important. Say it loud and clear for everybody to hear.

God doesn’t put anyone someplace permanently. I am a living testimony to that.

We have to make Toronto – we have to – we have to make Toronto the best atmosphere in the NBA.

I’m proud of Toronto. I’m proud of Canada. I’m proud of the NBA. I’m very proud of it.

Africa has proven to produce some of the greatest athletes in the world, and it’s a joy to be able to help grow that talent and create a space for African youth to learn.

Growing up in Africa, I always dreamt big.

Winning influences, it helps, it gets the kids. Winning makes an impact.

It’s easy to defend, in my opinion, when you play one-on-one.

You have to figure out that balance between younger players and veteran players, star players, and All-Star players, really a team effort. And then you have to be lucky.

That’s why we play sports, is to compete for championships.

I’ve studied the game in every different aspect that I can.

I wasn’t a great player, but I got a lot out of the game. I saw the world and made many lifelong friends.

We play sports to win.

I have to give back. For me, it would be a failure if I could not give back.

When I started Giants of Africa, I envisioned providing African youth access to the game and empowering them to achieve their greatest potential.