Masai Ujiri is the general manager

General manager

General manager is a descriptive term for certain executives in a business operation. It is also a formal title held by some business executives, most commonly in the hospitality industry.-Generic usage:...

 of the Denver Nuggets

Denver Nuggets

The Denver Nuggets are a professional basketball team based in Denver, Colorado. They play in the National Basketball Association . They were founded as the Denver Rockets in 1967 as a charter franchise of the American Basketball Association, and became one of that league's more successful teams...

 of the NBA. A native of Zaria

Zaria

Zaria may refer to:*Zaria, a city in Kaduna State, Nigeria*Zaria , or Zoria, the Slavic goddess of beauty*Countess Zaria of Orange-Nassau, Jonkvrouwe van Amsberg, a member of the Dutch royal family...

, Nigeria

Nigeria

Nigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...

, he is the first African-born general manager for an American major league sports team.

The son of a doctor and a hospital administrator, Ujiri originally played soccer as a youth before focusing on basketball. He admired Hakeem Olajuwon

Hakeem Olajuwon

Hakeem Abdul Olajuwon is a retired Nigerian-American professional basketball player. From 1984 to 2002, he played the center position in the National Basketball Association for the Houston Rockets and Toronto Raptors. He led the Rockets to back-to-back NBA championships in 1994 and 1995. In 2008,...

, an NBA star who was born in Nigeria. Ujiri played college basketball in the United States at Bismarck State College

Bismarck State College

Bismark State College is the third largest college in the North Dakota University System with approximately 4200 students. It is a comprehensive community college that offers two-year and four-year degree plans. BSC offers the first two years of education toward a bachelor's degree in most fields...

, then transferred to Montana State University-Billings, though he left the latter school after one semester. He spent six years playing professionally in Europe, then, with the help of David Thorpe

David Thorpe (basketball)

David Thorpe is the Executive Director of the Pro Training Center in Clearwater, Florida. Thorpe, a University of Florida graduate, also works for Scouts, Inc....

, became an unpaid scout for the NBA's Orlando Magic

Orlando Magic

The Orlando Magic is a professional basketball team based in Orlando, Florida. They play in the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Basketball Association and are currently coached by Stan Van Gundy...

. The following season, the Denver Nuggets offered him a paid scouting position, and after four seasons there, he joined the Toronto Raptors

Toronto Raptors

The Toronto Raptors are a professional basketball team based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. They are part of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Basketball Association . The team was established in 1995, along with the Vancouver Grizzlies, as part of the NBA's re-expansion...

as their Director of Global Scouting. He became the Raptors' assistant general manager in 2008, and returned to the Nuggets in 2010, when he accepted his current position.

Ujiri has also been the director of the NBA's Basketball Without Borders Africa program, which promotes basketball throughout the continent.