Categories
News Trending Viral Worldwide

The Knicks Are Suing The Raptors Over A Former Employee Taking ‘Proprietary Files’ To Toronto

The Toronto Raptors and New York Knicks are divisional rivals in the Eastern Conference’s Atlantic Division, and entering the 2023-24 season, there’s an additional layer being added to the drama between the two teams.

On Monday, Ian Begley of SNY reported the Knicks have filed a lawsuit against the Raptors, alleging that a former employee of the Knicks, Ikechukwu Azotam, took thousands of “proprietary files” with him when he left the Knicks to join the Raptors organization. The Knicks confirmed the lawsuit via a spokesperson, who said the files taken included a prep book for the 2022-23 season, play frequency reports, and video scouting files.

According to the lawsuit obtained by Begley, the Knicks assert Azotam shared that information with the Raptors coaching staff and that the Raptors were the ones who encouraged him to log in to the Knicks’ Synergy Sports account to transfer thousands of files of film and data.

It’s fascinating that this is playing out in a legitimate legal battle, rather than something that would be handled through the league, but the Knicks clearly believe this goes beyond a league matter. One would think they have proof the files were taken, but what is more interesting is whether they can prove their assertion the Raptors were actively encouraging Azotam to transfer the files and shared them with the Raptors coaching staff. As for what the punishment would be for that from the league, that remains to be seen (and requires the Knicks to prove what happened), but it’s not every year we get lawsuits alleging espionage in the NBA.