Raptors' Masai Ujiri Says 'We Have to Fight For' People Wrongly Accused

Toronto Raptors president Masai Ujiri said Wednesday society must "fight" for people who've been wrongly accused of crimes.

Alameda County Sheriff's deputy Alan Strickland filed a lawsuit against Ujiri in February 2020 alleging the Raptors president was the aggressor during a confrontation following Game 6 of the 2019 NBA Finals.

Ujiri filed a countersuit in August that included video evidence showing Strickland grabbing him by the suit and shoving him at the beginning of the altercation, which came after the Raptors clinched their first championship in franchise history.

Both lawsuits were dropped in mid-February.

Ujiri, 50, appeared on ABC's Good Morning America on Wednesday (via ESPN's Tim Bontemps) to discuss the situation, saying he was lucky to have the resources to challenge the allegations.

"I say it as humbly as I can: The privilege of the job I have is to fight for this," he said. "They are wrongly accused, there is no body cams, nobody sees what happens, and they are incarcerated or they are accused or they are charged. We have to fight for them."

The 2013 NBA Executive of the Year said it's also important to keep his situation in perspective.

"As much as we say 'Yeah, this happened to me,' there's worse that's happened to other people, right?" Ujiri said. "I lost a moment. People have lost their lives."

He added: "I want people to really think about humanity and who we are as human beings. It is really, really important we treat each other well."

Along with his work helping build a championship roster in Toronto, Ujiri also founded Giants of Africa and served as director of Basketball Without Borders Africa to help grow the sport on the continent.

He was born in England and grew up in Nigeria before moving to the United States during his high school years to chase his basketball dreams.