Masai Ujiri's legal team has released body camera footage of his encounter with a security worker at Oracle Arena after the Raptors won the NBA championship. pic.twitter.com/56XWMpZy0P
— Diamond Leung (@diamond83) August 19, 2020
Newly released body cam footage appears to vindicate Raptors owner Masai Ujiri, for an incident that occurred at the end of Game 7 of the 2019 NBA Finals at Oracle Arena. The incident grabbed international attention at the time.
Ujiri got into a physical dispute with an Alameda County sheriff’s deputy, Alan Strickland, as he tried to join his team on the court during the postgame celebration. Ujiri was credentialed to do so, but the body cam footage released by his lawyer, clearly indicates that he was shoved twice by Deputy Strickland after presenting his pass. After the second shove, Ujiri shoved back.
Strickland tells him to “back the f— up,” according to lawyers representing Ujiri.
“Why did you push me?” Ujiri asks. “I’m the president of the Raptors.”
Most significantly, the footage calls into serious question a federal lawsuit that Strickland levied against Ujiri, claiming the Raptors owner shoved him so hard he injured his head, jaw, chin and teeth. This led to a worker’s compensation claim where he said Ujiri “circumvented” the security checkpoint and then tried to “storm” the court and “hit him in the face and chest with both fists.” The video, as well as other angles of the altercation, would appear to show that to be untrue.
According to KTVU, the claims don’t end there:
Neither Strickland, who has not been back to work in more than a year, nor his attorney, David Mastagni, were available for immediate comment.
Alameda County Sheriff’s Sgt. Ray Kelly had no comment.
As for whether Strickland will ever return to work is unclear. According to Transparent California, Strickland earned $224,000 a year, not including benefits, in 2018.
According to his suit, Strickland has been “prevented from attending to his usual occupation” and believes that will be the case “for a period of time in the future.”
Strickland alleged he suffered such a “shock of injury to his nervous system” that he believes “will result in some permanent disability.”
In addition to the physical suffering, Strickland also said his “emotional well-being” also took a blow.
Strickland himself has a criminal history, and was arrested and convicted of insurance fraud in 1994.