‘NOT AN AGGRESSOR’

Video Shows Deputy Shoving Toronto Raptors President Twice to Start Clash at NBA Finals

Strickland filed a lawsuit alleging Masai Ujiri attacked him—but new video suggests otherwise.

New video released Tuesday shows a deputy shoving the Toronto Raptors president twice in the chest to begin an altercation at the end of last year’s NBA Finals. Toronto Raptors’ president of basketball operations, Masai Ujiri, was confronted by an Alameda County sheriff’s deputy when he tried to walk onto the court after the Raptors defeated the Golden State Warriors to win the NBA championship last summer. Deputy Alan Strickland filed a federal lawsuit in February alleging Ujiri attacked him, leaving him with physical and emotional injuries. But Ujiri countersued and released videos that the Raptors said show Ujiri “was not an aggressor, but instead was the recipient of two very violent, unwarranted actions.”

In the video, Ujiri can be seen reaching into his suit jacket to show his team credential when Strickland shoves him and says: “Back the fuck up.” After Ujiri identifies himself as “the president of the Raptors” and attempts to show his credential again, he was shoved a second time. Ujiri can then be seen pushing Strickland back before other arena security intervenes and allows him onto the court to celebrate.