Toronto Raptors President Joins Fremantle & Passenger Docuseries

Toronto Raptors Vice-Chairman and President Masai Ujiri has joined Fremantle and Passenger’s Basketball Africa League (BAL) documentary series as an executive producer.

The BAL, which began its inaugural season in May of this year, is a partnership between the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the International Basketball Foundation. The docuseries will follow the stories of the players, coaches and teams from across Africa as they prepared for and competed in the first season.

Ujiri, who grew up in Nigeria, has been involved with the NBA in Africa for nearly two decades and has been instrumental in its Basketball Without Borders program. He became president of the Toronto Raptors in 2013, making him the first African team president in North American sports. Under Ujiri’s leadership, the team won the 2019 NBA Championship. He is also currently president of Giants of Africa, a non-profit he co-founded in 2003 that uses basketball as a tool to educate and enrich the lives of African youth.

Ujiri said: “The very first time I was introduced to this project, I knew that I had to be a part of it. As a young boy, I could have never imagined a professional basketball league, with opportunities for Africans both on and off the court, in my own backyard. The inaugural season of the Basketball Africa League marked a special event in the history of sports in Africa, and I’m honored to help showcase the unique journey that has brought us to this moment in time.”

Richard Brown, founder of Passenger and an executive producer for the project, said: “In the early stages of putting this series together we met Masai, and it was immediately apparent that he would be the ideal partner on this project. Going from a young player in Nigeria to an inspirational leader in the NBA and a visionary architect of the future of sports in Africa, he embodies the aspirations behind the story we are telling. We’re thrilled that he has come on board; his knowledge, ideas and insights are invaluable.”