Raptors call Knicks' lawsuit 'baseless' and request dismissal
Toronto Raptors head coach Darko Rajakovic is named in a lawsuit filed by the Knicks that the Raptors are seeking to have dismissed. Credit: AP/Chris Young
The Toronto Raptors responded Monday to a lawsuit filed by the Knicks alleging theft of intellectual property by a former employee, calling it a publicity stunt and requesting it be dismissed.
Maple Leafs Sports and Entertainment filed the request in the Southern District of New York, claiming that the Knicks' case is baseless and that the issue should have been settled in the NBA offices.
The Knicks filed the lawsuit in August, charging former employee Ike Azotam, who was hired away by the Raptors, the Raptors, MLSE, Raptors coach Darko Rajakovic, Raptors player development coach Noah Lewis and 10 unnamed John Does.
The Knicks' lawsuit, which was filed with the Southern District of New York, claims that Azotam, who worked for the Knicks from 2020 until Aug. 14, illegally transferred information from his Knicks email account to his personal email account, which he shared with the Raptors’ coaching staff.
Azotam served as an assistant video coordinator for the Knicks before being promoted to director of video/analytics/player development assistant in 2021.
“This baseless lawsuit is a public relations stunt by the Knicks,” MLSE wrote in the filing. “It has no business wasting judicial resources given the all-encompassing arbitration clause in the parties’ governing agreement. Unless they reverse course and accept the jurisdiction of the NBA Commissioner as the parties agreed, the Knicks have chosen a forum that would likely not even be able to commence substantive proceedings until after the upcoming NBA season concludes and not ultimately resolve the dispute until 2025 at the earliest.
“From the outset, Plaintiff’s actions have been the opposite of what an aggrieved party whose valuable trade secrets have been stolen would do. The Knicks agreed that the NBA Commissioner has exclusive, full, complete, final and binding authority to adjudicate disputes like this between member clubs . . . The fact that the Knicks elected to commence their action in this forum despite the overwhelming infirmities of this lawsuit and the inability of the Court to grant the Knicks prompt relief can only be explained by a concern that pursuit of their claims in the proper forum would receive no public attention and would be denied by the NBA Commissioner. “
The Knicks responded Monday in a statement from MSG Sports: “As we have previously stated, given the theft of proprietary and confidential files and clear violation of criminal and civil law, we were left no choice but to take this to federal court and are confident the judicial system will agree.”
Steve Popper covers the Knicks for Newsday. He has spent nearly three decades covering the Knicks and the NBA, along with just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.
