Ujiri Started His Front-Office Career at the Bottom
With a playing career firmly in the rearview mirror, Ujiri began shifting his goal to focus on becoming front office personnel. He initially aspired to become an NBA scout who searched for talent from his home continent in Africa.
Ujiri got his foot in the door by making connections with scouts and coaches at camps and college basketball games. He moved to Washington in 2002 and began studying the ins-and-outs of the NBA and its front office jobs. Impressed by Ujiri’s knowledge of the game, former Orlando Magic general manager John Gabriel gave the 32-year-old unpaid scouting assignments. Ujiri spent a year traveling all over the world on his own dime—often rooming with players or scouts to save money.
A year later, he would meet Nuggets executive Jeff Weltman, who introduced him to team general manager Kiki Vandeweghe. The former NBA star hired Ujiri as an international scout. He would spend four seasons in Denver before being picked by former Toronto President Bryan Colangelo as Director of Global Scouting in 2007—Ujiri’s first NBA front office job. Colangelo elevated Ujiri to Assistant General Manager in 2008.
