Lifestyle/Culture
How Masai Ujiri is Using Basketball to Transform the Lives of African Youth By Diana Tsai
GROWING UP PLAYING BASKETBALL in Africa, NBA Champion and Toronto Raptors ViceChairman and President, Masai Ujiri realized the abundance of talent in his homeland – but these players were often referred to as raw, lacking experience in the game and lacking access to coaching and facilities. That’s why Masai founded Giants of Africa in 2003 – a non-profit organization that provides quality facilities, gear and coaches with the goal of empowering African youth through the power of sport. I’m thrilled to sit down with Masai Ujiri, NBA Champion and Toronto Raptors Vice-Chairman and President, to explore his incredible nonprofit Giants of Africa and his vision and passion of using sports as a vehicle for transformative impact. Diana Tsai: Let’s start from the beginning! You started Giants of Africa in 2003. Was there a catalyst or was this a long-held dream? Masai Ujiri: When I was playing on the national team years there were always these youth that would want to hang around all of us. They wanted to learn, and I could see sometimes it was the fundamentals they were lacking. When I first started the camps, honestly, it was kind of selfish! I wanted to find the next star. And so we created these camps, and I modeled it from Basketball Without Borders (by the NBA, which I was director of their camps in Africa). So I had 3 motivations: inspiration from the impact of Basketball Without Borders, wanting to find the next star, and teaching kids the basic fundamentals of basketball. Because ultimately, when I see those kids, I see myself. Tsai: What has been the total impact of Giants of Africa to-date? Ujiri: Each summer since 2003, we’ve conducted camps across the African continent for boys 109
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▲Masai Ujiri and former President Barack Obama ►Giants of Africa Camp
and girls between the ages of 15 and 19. We’ve c onnec ted with youth in over 17 African countries and territories thus far, Giants of Africa has developed players at the local, national, international and professional levels. Over 100 of our campers have attended high school or university in the United States and Canada, nearly 25 former participants have played on junior teams in clubs throughout Europe and over 65 have attended the NBA’s Basketball Without Borders program in Africa. And those numbers don’t include the hundreds of Giants of Africa youth who – inspired by the game of basketball – have gone on to become doctors, lawyers, entrepreneurs, see page 110
DAWN
www.africabusinessassociation.org
