Ujiri: Kenyan connection in NBA finals

Kawhi Leonard’s 27 points and a career high 17 rebounds that the Toronto Raptors advanced to their first NBA final with a 100-94 win over the top-seeded Milwaukee Bucks vindicated the Canadian franchise president Masai Ujiri’s shrewd trading.

Son of a Nigerian father and Kenyan mother (His father, Michael Ujiri, was an hospital administrator while his mother Paula Grace was a doctor), the 48-year-old Ujiri, the first Africa-born general manager in the NBA, caused a stir when he sent fan favourite DeMar DeRozan to San Antonio in exchange for San Antonio’s Leonard.

“On media day in September at the start of the season, after the formal introduction of Leonard in a Raptors uniform, Ujiri became frustrated with reporters who kept wondering whether Toronto was perceived in NBA circles as a team and a city capable of persuading a superstar of Leonard’s calibre to stay long term,” the New York Times reported.

“We have nothing to apologize about,” Ujiri said.

“This is a beautiful city. We are blessed to be one of the NBA teams, one that’s not in America. I can’t believe a beautiful city like this would not believe in itself.”

Ujiri has been to Kenya a few times, trumpeting the work of his Giants of Africa Foundation while touring the continent to empower the youth and women. In his last visit to Kenya last year, Ujiri promised to construct a Sh3 million bore hole at the Samburu Girls Foundation, home to 300 underprivileged girls.

His Raptors won the series 4-2 last Saturday, and the contest against the Bucks at Scotiabank Arena was a mirror image of game five, featuring a strong start by Milwaukee before Toronto came back in the fourth quarter to close it out with several clutch plays down the stretch.

The Raptors reached their first finals in their 24-year history where they will face the two-time defending champion Golden State Warriors.

Game one of the best-of-seven final is this Thursday in Toronto. "I just took it one possession at a time," Leonard said. "We kept fighting all game. The calls were not going our way, but we kept striving and striving." The victory has galvanized the Canadian city's sports fans and touched off a wild celebration among the crowd of 19,800 in the arena and tens of thousands more in the downtown "Jurassic Park", who watched the game on a giant screen.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he will be cheering on the Raptors.

"History made! @Raptors, it's time to bring that championship to Canada! #WeTheNorth," Trudeau tweeted Saturday.

Leonard won the head-to-head battle against Giannis Antetokounmpo, even dunking over the mighty "Greek Freak" with six minutes left in the fourth to give Toronto a 87-79 lead.

Leonard also hit another dynamic three-pointer from his favourite corner spot on the floor with three minutes left to make it 95-90.