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In a group that couldn’t exactly be called meaty—Owinje was six-foot-seven and only 175 lb. by the time he went to North America—Ujiri was always the skinniest, and he was mercilessly mocked for it. “We used to call him ‘Mosquito Legs,’” Owinje admits. Akuboh remembers being set up near the baseline in a pickup game and watching Ujiri catch an inbound pass in the corner. “He was going to shoot the ball, and he had the ball up here,” Akuboh says, cocking his arm. “Then he saw me from the corner of his eye and he said, ‘I know why you’re laughing. You’re laughing at my ribs.’”
Then, as now, Ujiri was far from defenceless. “Masai could play,” Owinje says. “Don’t let those skinny legs fool you. He could play. You’d look at him and say, ‘Ooh, what is this skinny guy going to do?’ If you didn’t protect yourself, Masai was dunking on you in a second. And then he’d talk trash. If Masai dunked on one of us in practice—oh my God! You wouldn’t hear the last of it. He would tell you how he prepared, how he got up. He would break it down to you step-by-step.”
He pauses to collect himself. “But in a good way, though.”
http://www.sportsnet.ca/basketball/n...nts-of-africa/
Then, as now, Ujiri was far from defenceless. “Masai could play,” Owinje says. “Don’t let those skinny legs fool you. He could play. You’d look at him and say, ‘Ooh, what is this skinny guy going to do?’ If you didn’t protect yourself, Masai was dunking on you in a second. And then he’d talk trash. If Masai dunked on one of us in practice—oh my God! You wouldn’t hear the last of it. He would tell you how he prepared, how he got up. He would break it down to you step-by-step.”
He pauses to collect himself. “But in a good way, though.”
http://www.sportsnet.ca/basketball/n...nts-of-africa/
Behind him, the camp’s six foreign coaches stand in a line. Ujiri turns to them as he finishes telling the kids just how hard it is to make the NBA, how only one player in the program’s 12-year history, the seven-foot-one Solomon Alabi, has done it. He notes that not a single one of the coaches played in the league, then adds himself to the tally, because he didn’t make it either. “But all of them used basketball as a tool,” he says, employing a GOA slogan. “And basketball took them places.”
He gestures at Franck Traore, anchoring the left end of the line of coaches, and tells the kids that Franck was born in Burkina Faso, that he went to the U.S. for high school, played Div. I ball at Manhattan College and now works for NBA Africa. “This big-ass dude can fly a plane,” Ujiri adds to close out the resumé. “I wouldn’t get on it, but he can fly a plane.”
Engelbrecht is next. “Sometimes he calls me and I don’t even know where the hell he is,” Ujiri says of his scout. “And I don’t know what the hell kind of player he’s finding. For all I know, he could be bringing all of you to the Raptors. And then I’ll get fired.” Engelbrecht played at the University of Maryland, Ujiri notes, and was born in South Africa.
He walks past Owinje, who played in Europe and with Allen Iverson at Georgetown. “Godwin does real estate now, scouts for NBA teams, he works with Nike,” Ujiri says. “So many things have opened up, OK? Godwin is from Nigeria.”
He continues along the line: Mahlalela, born in Swaziland and coaching for the Raptors; Tijjani, another Nigerian, a lawyer who played college ball in the U.S.; Mutombo, winner of two NCAA Div. II titles at Metro State, a veteran of Europe and the D-League, an NBA assistant coach and a native of the Congo. “Africans who have used basketball as a tool,” Ujiri summarizes. “That’s what we’re trying to teach you. Play the game as hard as you can and give it your all. Something is going to open up.”
He gestures at Franck Traore, anchoring the left end of the line of coaches, and tells the kids that Franck was born in Burkina Faso, that he went to the U.S. for high school, played Div. I ball at Manhattan College and now works for NBA Africa. “This big-ass dude can fly a plane,” Ujiri adds to close out the resumé. “I wouldn’t get on it, but he can fly a plane.”
Engelbrecht is next. “Sometimes he calls me and I don’t even know where the hell he is,” Ujiri says of his scout. “And I don’t know what the hell kind of player he’s finding. For all I know, he could be bringing all of you to the Raptors. And then I’ll get fired.” Engelbrecht played at the University of Maryland, Ujiri notes, and was born in South Africa.
He walks past Owinje, who played in Europe and with Allen Iverson at Georgetown. “Godwin does real estate now, scouts for NBA teams, he works with Nike,” Ujiri says. “So many things have opened up, OK? Godwin is from Nigeria.”
He continues along the line: Mahlalela, born in Swaziland and coaching for the Raptors; Tijjani, another Nigerian, a lawyer who played college ball in the U.S.; Mutombo, winner of two NCAA Div. II titles at Metro State, a veteran of Europe and the D-League, an NBA assistant coach and a native of the Congo. “Africans who have used basketball as a tool,” Ujiri summarizes. “That’s what we’re trying to teach you. Play the game as hard as you can and give it your all. Something is going to open up.”
Mentions Drake is his boy in the article. That means Masai is one boy removed from being Durant's boy!