Masai Ujiri broke his long-term vision for the Dallas Mavericks down to its lowest common denominator. He didn’t use any fancy words, and he didn’t try to deceive anyone.
Ujiri simply looked at what transpired with the Mavs during the past two dismal seasons and took a philosophical approach to what needs to be done moving forward.
“We are trying to bring joy back to basketball in this city with this team,” Ujiri said. “Sports, basketball is all about winning, and we want to win in Dallas and we will win in Dallas. This organization has been nothing but first class. This is the beginning.”
Since winning the Western Conference title and advancing to the NBA Finals in 2024, the Mavs have only been a shell of their former selves as they dropped to 39-43 during the 2024-25 season and 26-56 last season. Ujiri was hired on May 4 as the team’s president and alternate governor and came in with specific plans to get the ship afloat and pointed in the right direction.
Ujiri replaced head coach Jason Kidd with Dusty May. He then hired Mike Schmitz as the Mavs’ new general manager. And several new players have been brought on board, while others found basketball homes elsewhere.
Together, Ujiri and Schmitz have allied that the Mavs hope this will help them return to basketball royalty.
“There’s a vibe and an energy that we are all feeling, and we hope this can translate to good basketball, winning and the right attitude,” Ujiri said. “What we want to do is show a lot of respect for the game, how the game is played — played with joy — and win.”
Ujiri has a strong desire for the Mavs to experience the same joy he experienced in 2019 when he was the executive vice-president and general manager of the Toronto Raptors. That’s when, aided by improvements in the roster and a coaching change from Dwane Casey to Nick Nurse, the Raptors captured the 2019 NBA title and were celebrated throughout Canada.
For the Raptors, that season will be remembered for Ujiri trading the longest-tenured and very popular Raptor — forward DeMar DeRozan — to San Antonio for Spurs forward Kawhi Leonard, who was often injured. Leonard wound up as the critical piece of the Raptors’ championship run while collecting Most Valuable Player honors that year in the NBA Finals.
“I know there’s been a lot of changes in the (Mavs’) organization and I know changes are sometimes hard,” Ujiri said. “But we hope that changes are for the good. We feel a new energy; we feel a brightness not only with the team, not only with the people around, but just in general in basketball.”
Another important step Ujiri knew he had to make was to get a grip on the plethora of injuries which have handcuffed the Mavs over the previous two seasons. During the 2024-25 season, Mavs players missed 444 games to injuries and illnesses, and last season that number was at 364 games missed.
So, Ujiri hired Nico Berg to become the team’s executive director of health and performance in hopes that he’ll get that number under control. An experienced physiotherapist, Berg previously worked in the NBA, National Football League and National Hockey League, and also co-owned Lynn Valley Orthopedic and Sports Physiotherapy in Vancouver, Canada.
“The process was interviewing a lot of people, the process was interviewing a lot of different kinds of medical people,” said Ujiri, referring to hiring someone to head up the medical staff. “When Mike and (Mavs governor) Patrick (Dumont) led this operation of trying to find somebody, it’s a very tough thing, especially what the organization has gone through in the last couple of years.
“We had to find the right guy, we had to go to the right places. Nico Berg is the right guy. He had worked in the NBA before as a consultant; he knows NBA players, and he’s worked closely with medical people in the NBA. We believe we got the right person.”
Dumont also believes he hired the right person in Ujiri. A consummate professional, Ujiri is historically known for putting the right pieces to the puzzle in the right places.
“Masai is a leader with experience, with vision, with great charity for the communities in which he lives and operates,” Dumont said. “He’s known to do great charitable works in Africa, he’s known to recruit great players worldwide, and he has a championship pedigree and he’s now with the Dallas Mavericks’ family.”
It’s a historic moment Ujiri doesn’t take for granted, and it’s a moment he will forever cherish.
Born in Bournemouth, England, to a Kenyan mother and Nigerian father, Ujiri’s family moved to Nigeria when he was two years old. He started gaining interest in basketball as a teenager and had total admiration for NBA superstar Hakeem Olajuwon, who is of Nigerian descent.
After playing high school basketball in Seattle and in college at Bismarck State, Ujiri played his entire pro career (1991-2002) in Europe. He later became a youth coach in Nigeria, and enjoyed NBA stops with the Orlando Magic, Denver Nuggets and Toronto Raptors before landing with the Mavs.
During the 2012-13 season, while working as the general manager and executive vice president of basketball operations for Denver, Ujiri led the Nuggets to an impressive 57-win season, which was their franchise-best single-season win total since they joined the NBA in 1976. He also captured NBA Executive of the Year honors that season, and remains as the only non-American-born person to win that prestigious award.
Whatever secret sauce Ujiri had prior to his employment by the Mavs, the folks in Dallas are extremely confident he has the ability to spread some of that magic their way.
“This is an incredible opportunity for me and I truly, truly appreciate it,” Ujiri said. “To come back to this historic organization — the Dallas Mavericks — and come back to the NBA has been a blessing, and I’m honored and humbled to have this very unique opportunity.
“This is a winning organization and we want to get back to that. I know the fan base wants that, I know the organization wants that, I know leadership wants that, and I know the NBA wants that. And I’m hoping, and I’m praying to tell you guys that I’m here and I know that winning is my drive and is going to be the drive of this organization.”
In a sports-crazed city like Dallas, Ujiri believes he has the basketball intellect to make the necessary moves that will turn the Mavs into a winner again. He just wants those around him to exercise a moderate degree of patience.
“What I qualify as a successful season is bringing joy back to basketball in this city,” Ujiri said. “That’ll be success for us. And I know that’s going to take winning. But if we can bring joy back to basketball in this city, that’s a huge success for us.”
Photo: Masai Ujiri
NBA.com
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