Knicks file lawsuit against Raptors, former employee alleging information theft
Knicks forward Julius Randle reacts against the Toronto Raptors in the second half of an NBA basketball game at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday, Dec. 21, 2022. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
The Knicks filed a lawsuit Monday against the Raptors alleging a former employee stole “proprietary basketball related information” before being hired by the Raptors this summer.
The lawsuit, which was filed with the Southern District of New York, claims that Ikechukwu Azotam, who worked for the Knicks from 2020 until Aug. 14, illegally transferred the information from his Knicks email account to his personal email account, which he shared with the Raptors’ coaching staff.
The lawsuit not only names the Raptors and Azotam as defendants but head coach Darko Rajakovic, player development coach Noah Lewis and John Does 1-10. Rajakovic was hired in June by the Raptors after spending the previous three seasons as an assistant with the Grizzlies.
Azotam served as an assistant video coordinator for the Knicks before being promoted to director of video/analytics/player development assistant in 2021.
The Raptors ownership responded:
“MLSE (Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment) and the Toronto Raptors received a letter from MSG on Thursday of last week bringing this complaint to our attention.
“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 following its correspondence with MSG. The company strongly denies any involvement in the matters alleged.”
In a statement, the Knicks alleged Azotam “took thousands of proprietary files with him to his new position with the Toronto Raptors. These files include confidential information such as play frequency reports, a prep-book for the 2022-23 season, video scouting files and materials and more.”
The lawsuit said Azotam illegally shared 3,358 video files through Synergy Sports, a data service used by teams to compile video and data on opposing teams, and the file share site was accessed more than 2,000 times by the Raptors defendants. Per the lawsuit, the Knicks’ insider threat security team identified the theft on Aug. 15. According to a source, the NBA and Raptors were notified last week of the details before the complaint was filed.
“Defendant Rajakovic and the other Raptors defendants recruited and used Azotam to serve as a mole within the Knicks organization to convey information that would assist the Raptors defendants in trying to manage their team,” the lawsuit read.
The Knicks alleged that the Raptors conspired with Azotam when they began recruiting him for a position in June. Because Rajakovic had never been an NBA head coach, the suit alleged he and the other Raptors defendants used Azotam’s position “to funnel proprietary information to the Raptors to help them organize, plan and structure the new coaching and video operations staff.”
After Azotam informed the Knicks in July that he was leaving, the lawsuit alleged he began transferring files to his Gmail account and his new email account with the Raptors. It allegedly also was done at the direction of Rajakovic and the fellow Raptors defendants.
“On Aug. 11, 2023, Azotam sent two emails from his Knicks email address to his new Raptors email address . . . he subsequently provided this material to the Raptors Defendants at their request,” the lawsuit read.
One email had scouting reports and data from the Knicks’ regular-season finale against the Pacers, including plays and play calls. The second email was an advance scouting report for facing the Nuggets.
Another claim alleged Azotam shared his login information to Synergy Sports to a Raptors employee in an email dated Aug. 2. Three days later, Azotam shared “five separate zip files with Defendant Rajakovic and Defendant Lewis through a Knicks-operated SharePoint file-sharing website” that contained video of Raptors players.
As a result, the Knicks claim Azotam violated his employment agreement, which states all Knicks employees “shall maintain in strictest confidence all confidential or proprietary information concerning the Company or its business or organizations.” This includes tactics, playbooks and scouting reports, and after an employee leaves or terminated, they cannot “use or make any such information available for any purpose” without the organization’s written permission.
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Evan Barnes covers the Giants for Newsday. He previously covered the Brooklyn Nets, Memphis football and the Memphis Grizzlies and also covered prep sports in Los Angeles.
