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Toronto, June 27 EST: On a sticky June morning, one day after the NBA Draft and with free agency looming, the Toronto Raptors quietly dropped the biggest front-office bomb in franchise history: Masai Ujiri is gone. Just like that. After 13 years, a banner in the rafters, and more belief poured into this city than most executives could bottle in a career, the man who made “We The North” mean something real — is out.
No press conference. No send-off. Just a “mutual parting of ways” buried in morning wires.
And look — the Raptors haven’t been great lately. Three years outside the playoff picture. A 30–52 record this season. Roster moves that felt more like maybes than statements. But none of that erases what Ujiri meant. To this team. To this country. To basketball north of the 49th.
He was the Raptors.
From Kawhi to Chaos
Remember 2019? Of course you do. The Kawhi trade. The shot. The ring. The run. That wasn’t just a title — it was a masterpiece. Built by guts. Fueled by Ujiri’s cold-blooded belief that Toronto could be more than just the NBA’s side market. That this team could demand respect — and take it.
Since then? It’s been rough. No sugarcoating it. Pascal plateaued. The bench thinned. Coaches rotated. And the Raptors started looking less like contenders and more like a team stuck in basketball purgatory: too talented to tank, too scattered to surge.
Still, nobody thought this was how the Masai era would end — with him walking out the side door while Bobby Webster takes the wheel and MLSE kicks off a search for a new figurehead. You don’t cut ties with a franchise icon days before free agency unless something cracked inside the walls.
Something Broke. And Fans Know It.
On Raptors Reddit and everywhere else the faithful gather, the reaction was volcanic.
“WHAT THE F—”
“Rogers wanted him gone ASAP then.”
“They could’ve waited till August. Something went down.”
Fans smell the corporate stench. Rogers Communications, now holding the bigger piece of the MLSE pie, has been tightening its grip. Sources are whispering about internal friction, strategic gridlock, and power plays that finally squeezed Masai out. If that’s true, it’s not just short-sighted — it’s sabotage.
Masai wasn’t perfect. He held on too long at times. Some picks didn’t land. But he earned the right to try and fix it. And you don’t throw that kind of leadership away because a telecom boardroom wants a different flavor of “vision.”
You don’t mess with soul.
Masai Doesn’t Walk, He Reloads
Let’s be clear — Ujiri isn’t riding off into the sunset. He’s already being linked to the Atlanta Hawks, who would kill for his pedigree. Don’t be surprised if another suitor comes knocking. He’s still one of the most powerful, respected, and straight-up magnetic execs in the league. He’ll be fine.
The question is: will the Raptors?
With Ujiri out and no successor named, Bobby Webster is now steering the ship. The same guy who’s been at his side since the title days, but never the face. He’s smart. Trusted internally. But this front office no longer has the gravitational pull Masai gave it. Star players listened when Masai talked. Agents answered his calls. Opposing GMs respected him — or feared him. Either worked.
Now? That swagger’s gone.
The Raptors say they’re rebuilding. But are they rebuilding a roster — or reassembling an identity? Because right now, this feels like a team that just lost its heartbeat.
One Banner, Thirteen Years, and a City Changed
Masai Ujiri made Toronto a basketball capital. Full stop. He took a team from afterthought to headline. He gave kids in Scarborough and Senegal the same dream. He played big when the league wanted him small. And now he’s gone, without so much as a farewell presser.
Whatever went down behind closed doors, this city deserved better. He deserved better.
So raise a glass, Raptors fans. Not just for the title — but for the audacity he gave this team, for the pride he gave this city. Because no matter what comes next, Masai built the best of us.
And losing him hurts like hell.
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