Raptors GM disses Brooklyn Nets as he talks to fans before playoff game

TORONTO – Emotions ran high as the Raptors returned to the playoffs for the first time since 2008 and Toronto GM Masai Ujiri helped stoke the pre-game fire with some blue trash-talk Saturday.

Ujiri, a former NBA executive of the year in Denver, took the stage before the game to address pumped-up fans at Maple Leafs Square in advance of Game 1 against the Nets. The moment seemed to get to him as he paired an F-bomb and Brooklyn.

The crowd roared. Ujiri’s boss, MLSE CEO Tim Leiweke, smiled and shook his head then got off the stage quickly.

Video of the trash talk quickly surfaced on Twitter.

Ujiri was feisty prior to the series, after talk the Nets may have slipped down the standings in order to face the Raptors.

The Toronto GM said and his team “haven’t lost one second of sleep worrying about the Brooklyn Nets.”

“They can do whatever they want,” Ujiri said Thursday. “We’ll be right here.”

Toronto (48-34) and Brooklyn (44-38) split four meetings during the regular season.