“Masai is here,” Dumont said forcefully, accompanied by his own round of applause during his introductory statement.
The Mavericks governor was enthusiastic about Masai Ujiri, the team’s new president and alternate governor. The veteran executive was the splashy hire Dumont coveted since he dismissed Nico Harrison as general manager in November and elevated Matt Riccardi and Michael Finley as co-interim GMs. One month later, Dumont called Ujiri and the two met in Las Vegas for the first time in a meeting that lasted five hours.
Why was now, less than a week before the NBA draft lottery, the right time for Dumont to officially hire Ujiri?
“It was about getting to know Masai as a person,” Dumont said. “We spent a lot of time in our first meeting talking about life, talking about our values, what we felt was important, charitable work, why Africa was so important to him, the trajectory of where he thought he could take this team. It was a very long and detailed discussion. We got to know each other. It was great. And we continued from there …We wanted to make sure that it was the right situation for both of us.”
Dumont needed to get this hire right following a tumultuous two seasons that began with Harrison’s decision to trade Luka Doncic. From that moment, the rain poured as several disastrous events followed, from Davis’ immediate injury, Kyrie Irving’s torn ACL that cost him a season and a half, Dereck Lively II’s foot issues and two losing seasons after their electric run toward the NBA Finals in 2024.
Dumont was asked what he’s learned about the NBA and ownership since he and Miriam Adelson took over the Mavericks in December 2023.
“It starts with great leadership and great organizational focus and having the talent on the team that all works together and rows in the same direction,” Dumont said. “If you get that, great things will happen. That’s what Masai is here to do.”