Baxter Holmes, ESPN Senior Scribbler
The New York Knicks on Monday sued the Toronto Raptors, participants of the Raptors group and a former Knicks worker whom they alleged “illegally procured and then disclosed proprietary information” to their Atlantic Category rival.
In line with a brochure of the lawsuit, which was once filed within the U.S. District Court docket in Long island and was once got by way of ESPN, the Knicks climate that Ikechukwu Azotam, who labored for the Knicks from 2020 to 2023, despatched the Raptors 1000’s of mysterious recordsdata — together with play games frequency experiences, a prep hold for the 2022-23 season, video scouting recordsdata, opposition analysis and extra — later the crew started recruiting him to fix their group in the summertime of 2023.
The Knicks accused Azotam — who labored for the Knicks as an laborer video coordinator, after as a director of video/analytics/participant construction laborer — of violating a confidentiality clause in an operate word and alleged that participants of the Raptors “directed Azotam’s actions and/or knowingly benefited from Azotam’s wrongful acts.”
Additional, the Knicks alleged that the Raptors “conspired to use Azotam’s position as a current Knicks insider to funnel proprietary information to the Raptors to help them organize, plan, and structure the new coaching and video operations staff,” the lawsuit states.
Raptors head schoolteacher Darko Rajaković, participant construction schoolteacher Noah Lewis and ten “unknown” Raptors workers had been additionally indexed as defendants within the Knicks’ lawsuit.
In a observation from an MSG Sports activities spokesperson, the Knicks stated, partially, “Given the clear violation of our employment agreement, criminal and civil law, we were left no choice but to take this action.”
Maple Leaf Sports activities & Leisure, which owns the Raptors, and the crew answered to the lawsuit in a joint observation.
“MLSE and the Toronto Raptors received a letter from [Madison Square Garden] on Thursday of last week bringing this complaint to our attention,” the observation reads. “MLSE responded promptly, making clear our intention to conduct an internal investigation and to fully cooperate. MLSE has not been advised that a lawsuit was being filed or has been filed following its correspondence with MSG. The company strongly denies any involvement in the matters alleged. MLSE and the Toronto Raptors will reserve further comment until this matter has been resolved to the satisfaction of both parties.”
A decision and a textual content message to a telephone quantity indexed for Azotam weren’t straight away returned. An NBA spokesperson didn’t straight away reply to a request for remark. Underneath federal legislation, the defendants have 21 days to document a reaction to the lawsuit.
In July 2023, Azotam knowledgeable the Knicks that the Raptors had introduced him a place and that he deliberate to pluck it refer to week. The Knicks alleged that, round that very same date, “Azotam began secretly forwarding proprietary information from his Knicks email account to his personal Gmail account, which he then shared with the Raptors Defendants,” in keeping with the lawsuit.
The Knicks additionally alleged that participants of the Raptors “directed Azotam to misuse his access to the Knicks’ subscription to Synergy Sports to create and then transfer to the Raptors Defendants over 3,000 files consisting of film information and data.”
The Knicks discovered of the topic Aug. 15, 2023, one month later Azotam’s ultimate month as a Knicks’ worker, the lawsuit states. The Knicks alleged that Azotam “illegally shared 3,358 video files” and that “the stolen files were accessed over 2,000 times by the Raptors Defendants,” the lawsuit states.
Amongst alternative issues, the Knicks are searching for unspecified damages to be progressive; that the Raptors chorus from the use of the mysterious knowledge got from the Knicks; and that “Azotam can have no benefit as a result of his misappropriation and wrongful acts,” in keeping with the lawsuit.
Information of the lawsuit was once first reported by way of SportsNet Unused York.
