The New York Knicks and Toronto Raptors agreed to voluntarily dismiss a 2023 lawsuit over the alleged theft of thousands of confidential files, according to a legal filing with the U.S. District Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York.
Knicks sued Raptors for more than $10 million
Spokespeople representing the teams released this statement to ESPN: “The Knicks and [Raptors owner] Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment has withdrawn their respective claims and the matter has been resolved. The parties are focused on the future.”
According to athletics Eric Koreen and Mike VorkunovThe lawsuit alleged that Ikechukwu Azotam, a former Knicks employee who joined the Raptors in the summer of 2023, stole proprietary information and took it with him to his new Raptors job.
The Raptors, Azotam, Toronto head coach Darko Rajakovic, player development coach Noah Lewis and 10 “unknown” employees were named as defendants in the lawsuit.
The Knicks had demanded damages of more than ten million dollars. The team alleged that the Raptors poached Azotam, who was hired by New York in 2020, and ordered him to provide inside information after Toronto hired him.
Additionally, the proprietary information – which included “scouting reports, play frequency reports, a preparation book, and a link to licensed third-party software” – was allegedly used to help Rajakovic adjust to his first head coaching job in the NBA.
Raptors allegedly told Azotam he would misuse the Knicks’ Synergy Sports account
The lawsuit said that in July 2023, around the time Azotam told the Knicks he had received a job offer from Toronto, he “forwarded information from his Knicks email account to his personal Gmail account,” Koreen and Vorkunov said.
The lawsuit also alleged that the Raptors defendants directed Azotam to “misuse” his access to the Knicks’ Synergy Sports account to create and transfer more than 3,000 files of film and data, including 3,358 video files.
The Knicks discovered his transfer on Aug. 15 and said the defendants had accessed those files more than 2,000 times. They allege the Raptors attempted to “organize, plan and structure the new coaching and video operations staff,” according to the August 2023 complaint.
In an October 2023 lawsuit, the Raptors called the Knicks’ allegations “baseless” and a “public relations stunt,” according to ESPN. Baxter Holmes.
The Raptors argued that the “alleged ‘data theft’ amounted to little more than publicly available information collected from public sources that were easily accessible to all NBA members.”
The two sides ultimately ended up in an arbitration hearing with the NBA this summer after a judge ruled. The case was dismissed voluntarily and with prejudice.
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