Raptors fans are furious after sources reveal Edward Rogers wanted to get rid of Masai Ujiri

In a Star exclusive, sources revealed that Edward Rogers actively fought against plans to keep Toronto Raptors president Masai Ujiri as team boss, saying it wasn’t worth the price.

This comes on the heels of public squabbles in the boardroom of Rogers Communications Inc., one of the nation’s largest telecommunications companies, which has spread to the public arena.

The company now has two groups claiming to be in control after Edward Rogers was voted chairman of the board in a move backed by his mother and siblings. Over the weekend, Rogers says he was re-elected as chairman of the board by a group of newly selected board members. His sister, Martha Rogers, has been actively tweeting about the internal feud and said, “This should be taken as seriously as appointing himself King of England.”

Behind the scenes during contract conversations

After weeks of negotiations with Ujiri that began in mid-July, both MLSE President Larry Tanenbaum and Bell agreed to offer Ujiri a sweetened package that included an incentive payment tied to a future increase in the value of the Raptors: He had already added $ 500 million. in value to the franchise since his arrival in 2013, he led the team to the playoffs every year before the pandemic and won the NBA championship in 2019.

Various sources told the Star that sometime after a meeting with Ujiri, Rogers called Ujiri and told him that he was not worth the money he was being paid. The NBA source said the call left Ujiri so angry and disrespectful for Rogers that he considered taking a year off as president of the Raptors.

Sources also revealed that Rogers called Ujiri arrogant, saying he did not share his vision of the team.

To the relief of Toronto fans in a city that the Raptors president and vice president calls “home,” the team announced Aug. 5 that Ujiri would remain as the Raptors’ chief basketball operations officer.

The Raptors play at home Monday night against former teammate Demar DeRozan and the Chicago Bulls, and fans on Twitter already coordinate chants of ‘f – k Ed Rogers’ before kickoff.

Here’s what people are saying about the Star exclusive:

One user referenced Edward Rogers’ recent rise in notoriety “from obscurity to Toronto’s most hated man.”

Another user said that failing to recognize Ujiri’s true worth was “the most Ed Rogers that ever lived.”

Canadian actress Tara Spencer-Narin voiced her criticism of Rogers, saying: “Masai is worth every penny.”

A Twitter user shared a gif of someone typing on his laptop while chewing gum and tweeted: “Masai Stan is filling out Rogers online forms to cancel any and all subscriptions this morning.”

Other Twitter users expressed disbelief that Masai decided to stay in the end, considering the opposition he faced despite winning a championship for the franchise and the city.

Some Twitter users are questioning Masai ‘s assessment of “worth,” asking if the same conversation would have taken place if he were not a person of color.