Masai Ujiri Many Thanks

-

All conferences have chairpersons, so does basketball.

Masai Ujiri, Toronto Raptors President is the newly minted chairman of the NBA’s Eastern Conference because his team won the Conference final by dunking the Milwaukee Bucks on May 25, 2016.

Bucks lost because of all the crazy folks on Yonge Street in Toronto, rooting for Ujiri’s team.  I was rather envious.  That’s why I say they were crazy.  I lived in Toronto for many years and experienced firsthand franchise loyalty. 

That’s just about it.  Basketball is not my strong point (too many stats to remember), but I know a lot about business conferences.  They are not the most exciting places to be because most of the time, the conference outcome is usually decided by top management, way in advance.  Conference chairmen are already in the know but mum’s the word.

Masai Ujiri is where he is this month, this year, this historic year for the Toronto Raptors because of how he conducted his team conference, not the NBA Eastern Conference.  By conference we mean players and staff.  Decisions were taken, chairs were rearranged, new chairs were ushered in, the table was changed from oblong to round to maintain eye contact, din from media commentators was blocked off and many other items on the agenda were taken care of.

One of the things that drive me crazy in business conferences is when the chair says: ‘What is the way forward?’

It is a redundant question because all roads lead to the biggest marketplace in the NBA, the Finals. From where I sit, team Masai Ujiri will come home loaded with baskets they slam dunked from the Golden State Warriors.

That’s another story but for now, we say e seun (thank you), as they say in Yoruba, Nigeria.  E seun Masai Ujiri e seun for bringing the NBA Eastern Conference championship to Toronto, through your conference skills.

By:  Nonqaba waka Msimang.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Elections And Political Bullies

-
Image
Forget democracy.   It should be called political bullying. We are watching it in the prelude to the Canadian election on the 19 th of October, 2015.   Americans have also started their political bullying for the looming presidential election next year. So many trees wasted on books about democracy.   Some countries have big budgets for invading other countries ‘ to defend democracy’ but it is seldom practised in campaigning for elections.   Calling opponents names and printing flyers attacking each other is behaviour that will not be tolerated in kindergarten, but it is all legal, in campaigning.   It is irritating and such a let-down to the whole notion of democracy.   Grown-up men and women behaving like Grade One kids. It is also misleading because many voters believe it is real hatred.   Don’t let that fool you.   These politicians play golf together, attend the same dinner parties, eat and drink at the same social events, share jokes and cut deals in parliament.   They
Read more

Comfort Food As Regret Food

-
Image
Chicken curry. Comfort food is good for the soul, which usually bleeds in winter from icy roads, bad drivers that want to annihilate pedestrians, frozen fingers and toes that take a sabbatical.   What happened to my toes?   I thought I was wearing special socks for boots? We therefore have a right to comfort food which throws doctors’ orders out of the window and has no loyalty to calories.   No calculator on the table, thanks very much.   Piece of bread 5 calories, half a banana 10 calories, sugar-free cheesecake 2,000 calories.   Ah! Ah!  We only live once. Naw!   Comfort food is old school food with its compulsory second helping.   It involves licking fingers and giving a big sigh, about the good life, which is shelter, food, love and debt.   The problem is the zip.   The jeans remind you that comfort food can also be called you will regret food .   Home sweet home is even sweeter in winter after surviving blowing snow and bumper to bumper traffic. What is more welcoming th
Read more

No Air Miles

-
Image
I don’t have Air Miles.   I’m considering putting that on a T-Shirt because I cannot go to the drugstore (chemist) or coffee shop without the cashier asking me if I have air miles. We waited for about two minutes the other day, while this guy looked for his Air Miles card in his overweight wallet.   For what?   For a few points. I don’t have air miles because Mathematics is a foreign language.   I was never good in numbers. That is why I squashed the idea of being an investment banker very early in life.   I understand you can invest in cornfields before the soil is turned up or pork bellies even before a baby pig is born. That is how I view air miles, investing in tomorrow or the unknown.   I’m the dumb one.   Some people understand this air miles’ thing so well, I overheard one customer saying: I can even convert my points into cash. Points and air miles are the same thing in Canada and the U.S.   Drugstores or clothing stores even give you a card to collect point
Read more