Masai Ujiri

“When you talk about goals, you look at your team last year and you want to move the meter a little bit. You don't want to go back and be the same team that you were last year, so we have tried to get better in some ways.”

“He is so true to himself, and so good to other people. Even during tough conversations, I have never worried about him. Because I know Dwane Casey is going to come back tomorrow to try to be better, and I feel the same way. I try to be better, and so I try to be like him that way.”

“Being a good teammate means looking out for our neighbours, friends and the people we work with.”

“When you get a chance to get a top five player, which doesn't come very often, you have to jump on it.”

“The truth is that Africa is like everywhere else. There are poor areas, there are rich areas, there is a middle class. Some of those areas are bigger in one country than another, and some countries have real problems that they're working through. But there's great people, good people and a small percentage of bad people - just like everywhere else.”

“I have to give back. For me, it would be a failure if I could not give back.”

“I have a mandate to win and that's what I want to do.”

“To be honest, women just make us smarter. They make us better. I've noticed that in my workplace. I've noticed that at home. I've noticed that in my past experiences in life.”

“There were great European players that were great basketball players that did not make it in the NBA... This is the best league in the world.”

“Nelson Mandela knew that sport has the power to inspire and unite people in a way that little else does.”

“I wasn't a great player, but I got a lot out of the game. I saw the world and made many lifelong friends.”

“I'm nervous about everything I do with Africa. You almost want it to go good all the time, and you don't want to disappoint.”

“For me, it's always been about Toronto. I love it here. My family loves it here. My wife loves it here, which is important.”

“I couldn't shoot. When I went to play in Europe, I learned to shoot better. I could jump, so people would just back off of me.”

“Manute Bol was one of the guys who taught me to be bold. To be fierce. To speak intelligently, and speak like you belong.”

“I focus on very few things in life - my work, my family, my friends. Those things are important to me and I pay good attention to them, and everything else just comes and goes.”

“You don't have to be a leader of a big organization. You can be a leader of your brother, of a young kid, of your community. That way you affect life, someway, somehow.”

“You want to win in the NBA you want to build a culture and teams will always do that and try to win. It's cutthroat. All 30 teams want to be that way whether they are rebuilding, have young players, have a style of play. It doesn't matter, everybody wants to win.”

“I'll always have a special place in my heart for the city of Denver and the Nuggets as an organization.”

“Kids in Africa start kicking a ball when they are six or seven years old, if not younger. It's like baseball, basketball and football in America. If you're talented, people will find you. That's what happened with soccer. The number of academies has grown rapidly, and people are really into it.”