Bobby Webster made Raptors’ head of basketball ops
Global News
The Toronto Raptors' search for a new team president is over — they won't have one.
TORONTO – The Toronto Raptors’ search for a new team president is over — they won’t have one.
General manager Bobby Webster will have his contract extended and take charge of the NBA franchise’s basketball operations without a change in title. The Raptors said they will not appoint a president, but Webster will be getting support from the leadership at Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment, the franchise’s owner.
Webster said he didn’t think any kind of formal designation mattered.
“A title, to me, probably isn’t as important as your responsibilities,” he said on Monday afternoon, shortly after his extension was announced. “I’m really thankful for this opportunity. I’ll make the most of it.
“A title is not something that concerns me.”
Webster, 40, is entering his ninth season as GM in Toronto, his 13th with the Raptors, and his 21st overall in the NBA. One of the architects of the Toronto’s 2019 championship run, Webster has led the team’s overall roster building, organizational structure, and day-to-day basketball operations for years.
“There’s 30 of these jobs in the NBA but this one, to me, is one-of-one,” said Webster. “The platform you have here, the opportunity we have with Canada Basketball, with all the kids growing up in Canada playing, I just really think that there’s not a more unique basketball job in the world.”
Webster was former team president Masai Ujiri’s first hire on the Raptors when the latter was brought on as Toronto’s executive vice president and general manager in May 2013. Before being named general manager in June 2017, Webster held the titles of assistant general manager and vice-president, basketball management and strategy.
