Masai Ujiri, a former Nigerian basketball player and now the general manager of American Basketball franchise, Denver Nuggets, has been named as the executive of the year in the NBA.
Ujiri who is also the Vice- President of the Nuggets is the first African- born general manager in a major American Sports Franchise.
The former D’Tigers player had 59 points after receiving eight first- place votes from a panel of his fellow Basketball executives, drawn throughout the NBA.
Los Angeles Clippers’ Gary Sacks made 28 points (three first- place votes) to rank way behind in second position while the Houston Rockets’ Daryl Morey and the New York Knicks’ Glen Grunwald both tied in third on 25 points (four first- place votes).
Ujiri joined Denver Nuggets after three years with the Toronto Raptors starting out as a scout from 2003-2007, before becoming the manager.
He represented Nigeria at the 1997 African Men’s Basketball Championship, where they came second in Senegal, and thereby qualified for its first FIBA World Championship which was held in Greece in 1998.
He regularly visits Nigeria either as a guest at the annual Milo Basketball Championship in Lagos or to organise the top 50 competition for basketball players.
