As the Raptors were celebrating their win over the Warriors in the 2019 NBA Finals, Toronto’s team president, Masai Ujiri walked on to the floor to join them. But he was stopped and then shoved twice by a sheriff’s deputy, temporarily staining a celebratory moment for the Raptors.
Alan Strickland, the Alameda County sheriff’s deputy who shoved Ujiri, claimed that Ujiri never displayed the proper credentials. He also claimed, per the Associated Press, that the Raptors’ president hit him “in the face and chest with both fists”, tried to bypass him, and ignored pleas to stop. He filed a lawsuit seeking $75,000 in damages.
Ujiri’s legal team filed a countersuit in response and used video from the deputy’s body camera to prove that he wasn’t the instigator.
Per that AP report, his team claimed that Stickland attacked Ujiri and that, as stated by one of his attorneys Tamarah Prevost, “he never would have been treated with such disrespect if he had not been Black.”
Earlier this week, Strickland dropped his lawsuit. In response, Masai Ujiri did the same and issued a statement on Instagram.
“I have decided my fight isn’t a legal one,” said Ujiri in that post. “Now the challenge is this: What can we do to stop another man or woman from finding themselves in front of a judge or behind bars because they committed no crime other than being Black? That is the work that each of us must commit to, every day.”
Ujiri understands the reality of the situation and the power of his position. He spoke about it in a video the team posted on Twitter.
“I’ve thought about how hard it was for me. And I’m privileged. I’m blessed,” said Ujiri. “I’m lucky that I can fight, and stand, and show and have evidence that many people don’t. We have to make it better. We have to fight and we have to stand up, and we have to speak up.”
The team, city and Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, who owns the Raptors, have his back. MLSE is happy Mijiri was vindicated but very troubled by what he experienced.
“We continue to be deeply troubled by the fact that Masai was put in this position in the first place, and believe he should never have had to defend himself,” said MLSE in a statement.
This is another painful reminder of the harsh reality that Black people face on a daily basis.
