DALLAS (AP) — The Dallas Mavericks hired former Toronto Raptors executive Masai Ujiri as team president and alternate governor on Monday, the latest step in moving on from the Luka Doncic trade that ended up being a significant setback for the club.
Ujiri was in charge of the Raptors when they acquired Kawhi Leonard from the San Antonio Spurs and won the 2018-19 NBA title in Leonard's only season with Toronto.
The 55-year-old Ujiri replaces Nico Harrison, who was fired as general manager in November. That was nine months after Dallas acquired oft-injured center Anthony Davis from the Los Angeles Lakers in the deal for Doncic, a generational star in his prime.
Ujiri was with the Raptors for 13 seasons before getting fired as president and vice chairman last June. He was first hired as executive vice president and general manager.
The club said Ujiri would be in charge of all aspects of basketball operations while working with team leadership on the long-term direction of the Mavericks.
“Masai Ujiri is one of the great basketball leaders of this generation and his addition to our franchise is a critical step in meeting our goals,” Mavericks governor Patrick Dumont said. “We welcome his energy and determination along with his leadership, experience and many accomplishments as a basketball executive.”
Former Dallas guard Michael Finley and Matt Riccardi had served as co-general managers since Harrison was fired. They engineered the trade of Davis to Washington in February after injury limited him to 29 games over parts of two seasons.
Ujiri inherits a new face of the franchise in Rookie of the Year Cooper Flagg, the No. 1 overall pick last summer. The Mavericks landed Flagg in the draft lottery despite just a 1.8% chance to get the top pick. Dallas has a 6.7% chance in this year's lottery.
The Mavericks could emerge as playoff contenders despite missing the postseason the past two years following a run to the 2024 NBA Finals behind Doncic and Kyrie Irving. Dallas lost to Boston in five games.
If Ujiri keeps Irving, the Mavericks will have a pair of one-and-done Duke alums in him and Flagg, who led the Blue Devils to the Final Four as just the fourth freshman to win Associated Press men's player of the year honors.
Irving and Flagg haven't played together because Irving ended up missing the entire season after tearing an ACL in March 2025.
Dallas also has a promising young center from Duke in Dereck Lively II, who has had several injury issues in his three seasons.
Other pieces of the Dallas core include four-time NBA champion Klay Thompson, who recovered from a slow start to have a solid year from 3-point range. He finished the season fourth all-time in 3-point buckets.
Forward P.J. Washington was a key contributor on the team that went to the finals, and Naji Marshall became a scoring option on an injury-depleted roster.
Ujiri was fired with a season left on his contract with the Raptors, who reached the second round after winning the championship but didn't win a playoff series over his final five seasons with the franchise.
The Nigerian-raised Ujiri is co-founder of Giants of Africa, a nonprofit launched in 2003 to focus on empowering youth across the continent through basketball, education and leadership development.
Ujiri was an international scout with Orlando and Denver before rising to head of basketball operations with the Nuggets. This year, he joined the ownership group of the WNBA expansion team in Toronto.
“I’m honored to join the Dallas Mavericks and step into this role at such an important time for the organization,” Ujiri said. “This is a franchise with a proud history, passionate fans, and a commitment to winning. We will win in Dallas.”
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FILE - Toronto Raptors NBA basketball team President Masai Ujiri speaks to the media regarding the recent trades in Toronto, Jan. 18, 2024. (Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press via AP, file)
VENTURA, Calif. (AP) — Britney Spears pleaded guilty through her lawyer Monday to a lesser charge that will allow her to avoid jail time after California prosecutors accused her of driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs.
The 44-year-old pop star, who recently completed a stint at a rehabilitation facility, didn’t appear in Ventura County court. But her lawyer, Michael A. Goldstein, pleaded guilty on her behalf to what’s commonly called a “wet reckless.” That allowed her to be sentenced to one day in jail that the judge said she served when she was booked, one year of probation, a required DUI class and state-mandated fines.
The plea offer was standard for defendants with no DUI history, no crash or injury on the road, and a low blood-alcohol level, the county district attorney’s office said. And it’s especially common for defendants who have shown motivation to address their problems and seek treatment, as Spears did when she voluntarily checked in to a substance abuse treatment center last month.
“I don’t think anybody’s happy about pleading guilty to anything, but under the circumstances, to get this behind her, I think everybody is pleased with the result,” Goldstein said after the hearing. “We appreciate the district attorney recognizing the positive steps that Britney is taking to help herself.”
Goldstein said Spears returned home after recently completing her rehab stint, and that reports that she left early were “absolutely false.” Asked what’s next for her, he replied, “I don’t know, I’m sure a lot.”
During the brief hearing, Spears received summary probation, which is informal and doesn’t involve mandatory meetings with a parole officer. She temporarily yielded her Fourth Amendment search and seizure rights if she is pulled over, meaning she must automatically yield to searches and sobriety tests. At Goldstein's request, the judge ruled this would not apply to her home.
District Attorney Erik Nasarenko said after the hearing that Spears had taken “full responsibility,” but he emphasized that DUI is a “serious crime” and said it was essential that she follow the requirements agreed to in court, which include continued substance abuse treatment, weekly visits with a therapist and monthly visits with a psychiatrist.
“We do not want Miss Spears to reoffend,” Nasarenko said.
She was charged Thursday with one misdemeanor DUI count, which meant she was not required to appear in court for her arraignment. But her representatives hadn’t said whether she would appear, and the hearing drew an unusually heavy media turnout for Ventura, a seaside city of about 110,000 people roughly 70 miles (113 kilometers) northwest of downtown LA.
After her March 4 arrest, a representative called her actions inexcusable and said that ideally, the arrest would lead to overdue change in her life.
She was pulled over for driving her black BMW quickly and erratically on U.S. 101, the California Highway Patrol said. She appeared to be impaired, took a series of field sobriety tests, was arrested and was taken to jail, the CHP said.
Authorities said in the criminal complaint that Spears had alcohol and drugs in her system, but they didn’t specify which drugs or list her blood alcohol content.
Spears grew to superstardom in the 1990s and 2000s with hits including “Toxic,” “Gimme More” and “I’m a Slave 4 U.” Most of her nine studio albums have been certified platinum, with two diamond titles: 1999’s “… Baby One More Time” and 2000s “Oops! … I Did It Again.”
She became a tabloid obsession in the early 2000s and a source of intense public scrutiny as she battled mental illness and paparazzi fought to document the details of her private life.
In 2008, Spears was placed under a court-ordered conservatorship, run primarily by her father and his lawyers, that would control her personal and financial decisions for well over a decade. It was dissolved in 2021.
Since then, she has married, divorced, and released a bestselling memoir, “The Woman in Me.”
Ventura County District Attorney Erik Nasarenko speaks following the arraignment of singer Britney Spears on DUI charges at the Ventura County Superior Court, Monday, May 4, 2026, in Ventura, Calif. (AP Photo/William Liang)
Ventura County prosecutor Andrew Sullivant, right, speaks during the arraignment of singer Britney Spears in a DUI case at the Ventura County Superior Court in Ventura, Calif., on Monday, May 4, 2026. (Frederic J. Brown/Pool Photo via AP)
Judge Matthew Nemerson speaks during the arraignment of singer Britney Spears in a DUI case at the Ventura County Superior Court in Ventura, Calif., on Monday, May 4, 2026. (Frederic J. Brown/Pool Photo via AP)
Michael Goldstein, left, attorney for Britney Spears, speaks during her arraignment in a DUI case at the Ventura County Superior Court in Ventura, Calif., on Monday, May 4, 2026. (Frederic J. Brown/Pool Photo via AP)
Michael Goldstein, center, attorney for Britney Spears, speaks during the arraignment of her DUI case at the Ventura County Superior Court in Ventura, Calif., on Monday, May 4, 2026. (Frederic J. Brown/Pool Photo via AP)
Ventura County prosecutor Andrew Sullivant, right, speaks during the arraignment of singer Britney Spears in a DUI case at the Ventura County Superior Court in Ventura, Calif., on Monday, May 4, 2026. (Frederic J. Brown/Pool Photo via AP)
Judge Matthew Nemerson speaks during the arraignment of singer Britney Spears in a DUI case at the Ventura County Superior Court in Ventura, Calif., on Monday, May 4, 2026. (Frederic J. Brown/Pool Photo via AP)
Michael Goldstein, left, attorney for Britney Spears, speaks during her arraignment in a DUI case at the Ventura County Superior Court in Ventura, Calif., on Monday, May 4, 2026. (Frederic J. Brown/Pool Photo via AP)
Michael Goldstein, center, attorney for Britney Spears, speaks during the arraignment of her DUI case at the Ventura County Superior Court in Ventura, Calif., on Monday, May 4, 2026. (Frederic J. Brown/Pool Photo via AP)
