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Raptors President Masai Ujiri Has Positioned Himself for Jobs Outside the NBA

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Re: Raptors President Masai Ujiri Has Positioned Himself for Jobs Outside the NBA 

Post#121 » by Hero » Tue May 4, 2021 7:52 pm

Can we replace Larry T with Masai?
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Re: Raptors President Masai Ujiri Has Positioned Himself for Jobs Outside the NBA 

Post#122 » by tosi » Wed May 5, 2021 3:42 pm

Doesn't pay well but he could be the Premier of Ontario lol
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Re: Raptors President Masai Ujiri Has Positioned Himself for Jobs Outside the NBA 

Post#123 » by brownbobcat » Wed May 5, 2021 9:22 pm

canz55 wrote:You've completely neglected to mention the fundementals behind hiring someone from Wall Street finance in relation to baseball which is boiling down wins and losses into pure numbers (which we all know now as sabermetrics).

So you agree with me that proficiencies in one field can be relevant to success in other fields. That aside, it's an over-generalization that "pure numbers" are all that matter - Fieldman wasn't hired to be an analyst grunt.

canz55 wrote:Davey Johnson - who before becoming a baseball player and subsequently a manager of the Mets - graduated from John Hopkins in Mathematics and later became a key figure in the development behind computerizing baseball simulations in order to make predictions about future outcomes which was a revolutionary way of thinking about the game at that time. His contributions to the game of baseball is what paved the way for statistitions (from seemingly all walks of life) to become invloved in baseball.

Kind of a red herring, but although Davey Johnson was innovative for his time, he started managing in 1978 and hasn't contributed all that much to modern baseball analytics.

canz55 wrote:How does any of that in any way relate to appointing a Harvard educated journalist as the minister of finance for a G8 country (as an example)?

I've already listed the relevance of Freeland's other senior roles. Calling her a journalist is as accurate as calling former Finance Minister Flaherty an ambulance chaser.
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Re: Raptors President Masai Ujiri Has Positioned Himself for Jobs Outside the NBA 

Post#124 » by canz55 » Thu May 6, 2021 2:38 am

brownbobcat wrote:
canz55 wrote:You've completely neglected to mention the fundementals behind hiring someone from Wall Street finance in relation to baseball which is boiling down wins and losses into pure numbers (which we all know now as sabermetrics).

So you agree with me that proficiencies in one field can be relevant to success in other fields. That aside, it's an over-generalization that "pure numbers" are all that matter - Fieldman wasn't hired to be an analyst grunt.

canz55 wrote:Davey Johnson - who before becoming a baseball player and subsequently a manager of the Mets - graduated from John Hopkins in Mathematics and later became a key figure in the development behind computerizing baseball simulations in order to make predictions about future outcomes which was a revolutionary way of thinking about the game at that time. His contributions to the game of baseball is what paved the way for statistitions (from seemingly all walks of life) to become invloved in baseball.

Kind of a red herring, but although Davey Johnson was innovative for his time, he started managing in 1978 and hasn't contributed all that much to modern baseball analytics.

canz55 wrote:How does any of that in any way relate to appointing a Harvard educated journalist as the minister of finance for a G8 country (as an example)?

I've already listed the relevance of Freeland's other senior roles. Calling her a journalist is as accurate as calling former Finance Minister Flaherty an ambulance chaser.
Analytics is not "all that matters" but it counts for a lot. It's more relevant to the game of baseball than ever before, just look at how many record number of strikeouts we see today compared to yesteryear. It's all engineered by statisticians figuring out what the root number is for runs over a 162 game schedule.

If you're a baseball guy you'd know Davey's contribution to sabermetrics and how profound that was in the early 80's.

I'm not sure what tangible skill that someone like Freeland brings to the table in relation to her role. You say you already made note of it so you'll forgive me for not having seen it.

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Re: Raptors President Masai Ujiri Has Positioned Himself for Jobs Outside the NBA 

Post#125 » by brownbobcat » Thu May 6, 2021 4:00 am

canz55 wrote:Analytics is not "all that matters" but it counts for a lot. It's more relevant to the game of baseball than ever before, just look at how many record number of strikeouts we see today compared to yesteryear. It's all engineered by statisticians figuring out what the root number is for runs over a 162 game schedule.

You missed the point. Friedman's most important skillset isn't being some genius math whiz who had a secret formula (because he isn't). Investment analysts are a dime a dozen and they can't all do what he does. He excels at being a LEADER who was able to build, manage, motivate and coordinate the executive team while being incredibly innovative with zero resources. Trying things that had never been done before where there was no previous data at all.

canz55 wrote:If you're a baseball guy you'd know Davey's contribution to sabermetrics and how profound that was in the early 80's.

The reach of his work wasn't revolutionary nor nearly as influential as Bill James. It was decidedly old-school in that relied heavily on traditional metrics, just slicing the data differently. He should be given a lot of credit digging deeper than many others did, but it was more about situational optimization than really changing the game.

canz55 wrote:I'm not sure what tangible skill that someone like Freeland brings to the table in relation to her role. You say you already made note of it so you'll forgive me for not having seen it.

Experience leading the re-negotiation of NAFTA seems relevant and I'll repeat that successful leadership is more about people skills than technical skills. Masai isn't an amazing exec simply because of his eye for talent, that's what the scouts are for.
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Re: Raptors President Masai Ujiri Has Positioned Himself for Jobs Outside the NBA 

Post#126 » by akakalakin » Thu May 6, 2021 11:00 am

By doing a lousy job (him & Bobby) the last two seasons?

Should get him a virtue signalling political hack job with Trudeau politician types.
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Re: Raptors President Masai Ujiri Has Positioned Himself for Jobs Outside the NBA 

Post#127 » by KrazyP » Thu May 6, 2021 3:12 pm

dagger wrote:
KrazyP wrote:Personally, I think a guy like Masai Ujiri could potentially do a better job running Ontario or even Canada for that matter than the politicians we currently have in charge.

Our current Prime Minister is a Drama Teacher.
Our current Minister of Finance is a journalist and an expert in Russian Literature.
Our current Health Minister has no background outside of running homeless shelters in Thunder Bay.
Our former Minister of Technology was an Accountant.

It doesnt take much to succeed in modern day politics.

Masai's potential to be a political giant either here or elsewhere is huge.


I can top that: Our Premier was a drug dealer and college dropout.


Patrick Brown was suppose to be the Premier but he was taken out by false accusations from CTV who are known Liberal puppets. It was essentially Wynn's last attempt to stay in power....the result for Ontario was the worst candidate possible.

https://torontosun.com/news/provincial/key-accusation-against-patrick-brown-false-ctv-now-admits
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Re: Raptors President Masai Ujiri Has Positioned Himself for Jobs Outside the NBA 

Post#128 » by Yeezus_ » Thu May 6, 2021 3:19 pm

akakalakin wrote:By doing a lousy job (him & Bobby) the last two seasons?

Should get him a virtue signalling political hack job with Trudeau politician types.

You sound miserable. Every team goes through it's ups and downs, it's how quickly they can get back to the top and sustain it.

It's the natural course of NBA teams as players age and assets are replenished. I like how you ignore the context of what Bobby/Masai have done since 2012 and chery pick the last two seasons. I also like how you think last season was some terrible season for the Raptors.

Hopefully you can find some happiness.
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Re: Raptors President Masai Ujiri Has Positioned Himself for Jobs Outside the NBA 

Post#129 » by MessiahUjiri » Thu May 6, 2021 3:42 pm

Yeezus_ wrote:
akakalakin wrote:By doing a lousy job (him & Bobby) the last two seasons?

Should get him a virtue signalling political hack job with Trudeau politician types.

You sound miserable. Every team goes through it's ups and downs, it's how quickly they can get back to the top and sustain it.

It's the natural course of NBA teams as players age and assets are replenished. I like how you ignore the context of what Bobby/Masai have done since 2012 and chery pick the last two seasons. I also like how you think last season was some terrible season for the Raptors.

Hopefully you can find some happiness.



Poor guy. Reminds me of Trump followers who will inject politics and their victimhood into every discussion.
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Re: Raptors President Masai Ujiri Has Positioned Himself for Jobs Outside the NBA 

Post#130 » by redeye514 » Thu May 6, 2021 3:50 pm

Hero wrote:Can we replace Larry T with Masai?


I am the biggest Masai supporter under the sun, but lets not kid ourselves, Larry T is the true GROAT.

Not Masai. Not Lowry. But Larry T.

As far as I'm concerned, LT can stay in his spot for however long he wants. There are no Toronto Raptors if it was not for this man, full stop.
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Re: Raptors President Masai Ujiri Has Positioned Himself for Jobs Outside the NBA 

Post#131 » by OakleyDokely » Thu May 6, 2021 3:54 pm

Yeezus_ wrote:
akakalakin wrote:By doing a lousy job (him & Bobby) the last two seasons?

Should get him a virtue signalling political hack job with Trudeau politician types.

You sound miserable. Every team goes through it's ups and downs, it's how quickly they can get back to the top and sustain it.

It's the natural course of NBA teams as players age and assets are replenished. I like how you ignore the context of what Bobby/Masai have done since 2012 and chery pick the last two seasons. I also like how you think last season was some terrible season for the Raptors.

Hopefully you can find some happiness.
Not to mention that last year the Raps were on pace for a 60 win season and came within a minute of a conference finals appearance. On what planet is that lousy?
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Re: Raptors President Masai Ujiri Has Positioned Himself for Jobs Outside the NBA 

Post#132 » by KrazyP » Thu May 6, 2021 4:41 pm

brownbobcat wrote:You're shifting goalposts. You said that leaders must have a legitimate background in the industry/area they're leading, i.e. the Minister of Health should have a background in health. While that can be useful in many cases, I am pointing out that the "Minister" part is more important than the "Health" part. The requisite skillset here is leadership and not technical ability in that field. Stop confusing leadership with charisma and stop using this 20-year old strawman that nobody is pushing for.

With respect to government, the reality is that your pool of candidates for any ministerial position is limited to elected MPs who are working within the framework of government. And so, the primary concern is more about how well those people navigate the role of governing and rely on other public servants to provide technical advice. Don't confuse any of this with a blanket defense of all politicians as being competent and skilled administrators. Many aren't. Some of them only have the skillset of winning an election, but that exists in the business world too - it's not always a pure meritocracy.


I'm not shifting any goalposts. People with knowledge and experience in addition to leadership ability make better candidates than those with no knowledge and experience pertaining the position they are trying to fill.

When Apple, Google, Amazon replaced their CEOs, they hired Tim Cook, Sundar Pichai and Andy Jassy...all natural leaders but also guys who have years of business and tech experience in the industry. Do you think these companies given their behemoth size would have been equally as effective if they just hired any guy off the street with leadership ability and little to no experience/knowledge when it comes to business and technology? Could Trudeau, Freeland, Ford fill the roles?

Experience and Knowledge is just as important as leadership skills when it comes to running large businesses and governments. The reason it doesn't seem to matter in politics is because voters can be manipulated by branding and things that dont matter. If Justin Trudeau's name was Joe Bloggs and he looked like Steve Buschemi, nobody would vote for him.

Canadian politics is currently littered with incompetence because we are electing and filling vacant positions based only on branding. The ramifications of this will be felt years after the fact.
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Re: Raptors President Masai Ujiri Has Positioned Himself for Jobs Outside the NBA 

Post#133 » by dagger » Thu May 6, 2021 11:08 pm

KrazyP wrote:
dagger wrote:
KrazyP wrote:Personally, I think a guy like Masai Ujiri could potentially do a better job running Ontario or even Canada for that matter than the politicians we currently have in charge.

Our current Prime Minister is a Drama Teacher.
Our current Minister of Finance is a journalist and an expert in Russian Literature.
Our current Health Minister has no background outside of running homeless shelters in Thunder Bay.
Our former Minister of Technology was an Accountant.

It doesnt take much to succeed in modern day politics.

Masai's potential to be a political giant either here or elsewhere is huge.


I can top that: Our Premier was a drug dealer and college dropout.


Patrick Brown was suppose to be the Premier but he was taken out by false accusations from CTV who are known Liberal puppets. It was essentially Wynn's last attempt to stay in power....the result for Ontario was the worst candidate possible.

https://torontosun.com/news/provincial/key-accusation-against-patrick-brown-false-ctv-now-admits


Okay, I can smell a Conservative plant. Actually, Christine Elliott was robbed of the leadership and that was on DoFo, not the Liberals, NDP or the media.
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Re: Raptors President Masai Ujiri Has Positioned Himself for Jobs Outside the NBA 

Post#134 » by SFour » Thu May 6, 2021 11:47 pm

tosi wrote:Doesn't pay well but he could be the Premier of Ontario lol


Didn't Doug Ford's net worth go from $3m to $50m or something like that because of his sticker business which thrived mainly due to the pandemic & lockdowns....it definitely pays well if you're corrupt
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Re: Raptors President Masai Ujiri Has Positioned Himself for Jobs Outside the NBA 

Post#135 » by WaltFrazier » Fri May 7, 2021 4:14 am

OakleyDokely wrote:
Yeezus_ wrote:
akakalakin wrote:By doing a lousy job (him & Bobby) the last two seasons?

Should get him a virtue signalling political hack job with Trudeau politician types.

You sound miserable. Every team goes through it's ups and downs, it's how quickly they can get back to the top and sustain it.

It's the natural course of NBA teams as players age and assets are replenished. I like how you ignore the context of what Bobby/Masai have done since 2012 and chery pick the last two seasons. I also like how you think last season was some terrible season for the Raptors.

Hopefully you can find some happiness.
Not to mention that last year the Raps were on pace for a 60 win season and came within a minute of a conference finals appearance. On what planet is that lousy?


Agree that was still a great team, in 2020. But after the title and Kawhi left, what did the FO do to improve it? Mediocre signings of RHJ and Stanley. If they had replaced Kawhi with a decent 2 way scorer we'd really be still talking about a very good team. And the past off season was a disaster, although Malachi is turning out ok.

The buildup of depth before 2019 was awesome, the moves to win the championship were great, but since the title it's been kind of below average front office performance.
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Re: Raptors President Masai Ujiri Has Positioned Himself for Jobs Outside the NBA 

Post#136 » by Metallikid » Fri May 7, 2021 5:35 am

At this point Masai's future might be tied to whether or not our government decides or is forced to stop being tyrannical and removes these restrictions.

If I were him why would I would stay for another season in Tampa? Or worse, back in Toronto but with life still in this dystopian nightmare where we can't actually have a life?
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Re: Raptors President Masai Ujiri Has Positioned Himself for Jobs Outside the NBA 

Post#137 » by tecumseh18 » Fri May 7, 2021 12:19 pm

KrazyP wrote:
dagger wrote:
KrazyP wrote:Personally, I think a guy like Masai Ujiri could potentially do a better job running Ontario or even Canada for that matter than the politicians we currently have in charge.

Our current Prime Minister is a Drama Teacher.
Our current Minister of Finance is a journalist and an expert in Russian Literature.
Our current Health Minister has no background outside of running homeless shelters in Thunder Bay.
Our former Minister of Technology was an Accountant.

It doesnt take much to succeed in modern day politics.

Masai's potential to be a political giant either here or elsewhere is huge.


I can top that: Our Premier was a drug dealer and college dropout.


Patrick Brown was suppose to be the Premier but he was taken out by false accusations from CTV who are known Liberal puppets. It was essentially Wynn's last attempt to stay in power....the result for Ontario was the worst candidate possible.

https://torontosun.com/news/provincial/key-accusation-against-patrick-brown-false-ctv-now-admits


CTV has never, NEVER, been a Liberal puppet. It's always been pro-Conservative, and it was clear that internal Conservative sources leaked the accusations to their CTV lapdogs, in order to push Brown out and get Doug Ford in there immediately before the election.

The Ontario (and federal) Conservatives have been going through the same gyrations that the Republican Party in the US is - asking the eternal question: "Are we a sane, sensible government-in-waiting (Christine Elliot/John Tory) or are we populist ideologues?"

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