Masai Ujiri's emotional moment displays how he has led the Raptors to such success

The NBA lost a legend on Monday.

Dikembe Mutombo, one of the genuinely best people to ever put on an NBA uniform, died at the age of 58 from brain cancer. This was a man who took all that he had and gave it away; who used his time after retirement to serve as an ambassador of basketball to the world. He took the money earned during his career and built a hospital in his home village.

His death leaves a void in the soul of basketball and the fabric of the league, and it also left a hole in the life of Masai Ujiri. The Toronto Raptors' President spoke at the team's Media Day on Monday before the news broke; he returned later in the morning to speak about his friend, Dikembe Mutombo.

Masai Ujiri shared moving stories about his friend

He sat at the podium and let the tears flow down his face as he spoke to the greatness of Mutombo. He shared how Mutombo "made us who we are" and called him "an incredible person" and a "hero." Ujiri showed the raw emotion he was feeling at the passing of a "hero" who has a massive human being but in the end was best known for his massive heart.

"Today is not a good day. It's not a good say for sports, for us, for Africa. This is not a good day at all."

Ujiri and Mutombo were close; they both cared deeply about both basketball and their home continent of Africa, and they worked together to build courts, invest in young people and try to improve the quality of life and the opportunities available to countless people across the continent.

One of the stories he shared was of traveling to the hospital that Mutombo built, and how it didn't even smell like a hospital - he built not just a functional hospital, but a truly excellent one.

In the midst of all the transactions and tax aprons and 3-pointers and rebounds, the human element of basketball can sometimes be lost. Masai Ujiri brought it to center stage, choosing not to grieve in private but to do it in front of cameras and microphones to bring honor to a legend and a friend.

Why Masai Ujiri is a great executive

What Ujiri modeled on Monday - loyalty, respect, empathy, deep friendship - were the attributes that make him such an effective executive. He has had an up-and-down track record in the draft, and his attachment to players on the roster has often led him to trade them too late, but his relationships with people are a massive point in his favor and potentially the secret to his success.

The NBA is a league of relationships above all else. Your relationship with other front offices greases trades; your relationship with players draws them to your team and encourages them to re-sign. It helps to weather the storms of losing and lack of playing time to keep players bought in and pull in the same direction.

Ujiri cares deeply about his friends, and he has a lot of friends. That can occasionally reflect negatively on him, such as his relationships with questionable characters across Africa, but largely it speaks boldly in his favor. He loves the people in his life, and his heart is big enough for a lot of people.

Even one of the most impactful moves of his entire career speaks to this. When the Raptors traded for Kawhi Leonard it meant shipping out DeMar DeRozan, a player drafted by Toronto who had become an All-NBA player in nine seasons with the Raptors. It may seem like a heartless move - and it certainly wasn't easy on DeRozan - but it speaks to Ujiri's emotional intelligence and care that the rest of the Raptors' roster was able to weather that move and lock in for a run to the championship.

Ujiri is not a perfect executive, but he has been an effective one who is highly respected across the league. What he showed on Monday went above and beyond his role and showed a glimpse of the friend that he is. The NBA needs more people like that, especially after losing the ultimate person in Dikembe Mutombo.