Raptors fire back at Knicks, hint at defamation countersuit

In a scathing court filing obtained Monday night by ESPN, the Toronto Raptors hit back at the most recent allegations made by the New York Knicks in the ongoing lawsuit between the two teams over the alleged theft of thousands of confidential files, the Raptors accusing the Knicks of dragging out the case “as long as possible because this lawsuit attracts publicity and aims to harm the Raptors, its head coach and members of its staff.”

For the first time, the Raptors also said that once this dispute is resolved, the defendants named in the lawsuit – among them several Toronto staff members, including coach Darko Rajaković – reserve the right to sue sued the Knicks for defamatory public statements. , accusing them in particular of having committed “a flagrant violation of criminal and civil law”.

Additionally, the Raptors again asked the U.S. District Court in Manhattan to compel arbitration by NBA Commissioner Adam Silver and dismiss the Knicks' claims – two points the Knicks have repeatedly rejected, but most clearly in their file of November 20.

In that Nov. 20 filing, the Knicks argued that Silver could not arbitrate the dispute in part because the Knicks were seeking more than $10 million in damages — and Article 24 of the NBA Constitution states that the commissioner cannot impose a penalty of more than $10 million. more than 10 million dollars. The Knicks also cited Silver's relationship with Raptors governor Larry Tanenbaum as a potential conflict of interest.

On Monday, the Raptors responded to that point.

“The NBA Commissioner is not biased and is the best person to decide this dispute because of his ability to identify what information, if any, is confidential and proprietary such that its misuse could harm a member like the Knicks,” the Raptors wrote. “The Knicks' aversion to his jurisdiction is simply because they know they will not like his determination. Although it is inevitable that the Knicks' allegations will fail on their merits in no way Regardless of forum, this procedure allows the Knicks to maintain their allegations in the public media, causing harm to the named defendants.

The Raptors added: “Akin to a coach lamenting the injury of his star player even before the game, the Knicks seek to excuse their inevitable defeat on the merits by attacking the integrity of the NBA commissioner.”

The Knicks did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The original complaint, filed in August, accused former Knicks employee Ikechukwu Azotam, who worked for the Knicks from 2020 to 2023, of sending the Raptors thousands of confidential files, including game frequency reports, a preparation book for the 2022-23 season. , video scouting files, opposition research and much more – after the team began recruiting him to join their organization in the summer of 2023.

The Knicks also accused Azotam — who worked for them as an assistant video coordinator and then as director of video/analytics/player development assistant — of violating a confidentiality clause in an employment contract and alleged that Raptors members “directed Azotam's actions.” and/or knowingly benefited from the illicit acts of Azotam.”

Additionally, the Knicks alleged that the Raptors “conspired to use Azotam's position as a current Knicks insider to pass proprietary information to the Raptors to help them organize, plan and structure new Knicks personnel.” training and video exploitation,” the lawsuit states.

Rajaković, player development coach Noah Lewis and 10 “unknown” Raptors employees were also listed as defendants in the Knicks' lawsuit.

“The Knicks’ allegation that there was a broad conspiracy among the defendants to steal the Knicks’ proprietary trade secrets is false,” the Raptors wrote in their Monday filing. “Coach Rajaković – with almost 15 years of experience as a head coach abroad and in the NBA G-League and another decade as an assistant coach in the NBA – does not never needed, never wanted, or saw a single piece of exclusive Knicks information.” Azotam has also never shared any exclusive information about the Knicks. The Knicks would have found out if they had accepted the Raptors' offer to cooperate with an investigation instead of immediately taking this legal action. “

In an Oct. 16 filing, the Raptors called the Knicks' lawsuit “meritless” and a “PR stunt,” while also calling on Silver to arbitrate the dispute. The Raptors have made this request several times since August, but the Knicks have repeatedly objected.

A key point the Raptors have made throughout the trial is that the alleged information taken by Azotam was not confidential — and they addressed that point again on Monday.

“If the Knicks were truly concerned about the misuse of confidential and proprietary information, they would have accepted the Raptors' invitation to cooperate with the Knicks in undertaking an immediate and thorough investigation into the Knicks' allegations,” the Raptors wrote in their press release on Monday. deposit. “And they would have requested immediate relief from the commissioner — who could have ruled before the season even started — rather than getting bogged down in lengthy legal proceedings.”

The Raptors added: “While not relevant to this motion, the evidence will show that no trade secret belonging to the Knicks was ever shared by Azotam with a single Raptors employee. Even if the claims are not sent to arbitration, there is no doubt. they will inevitably be fired, but only after damaging the reputation of the named defendants. »

In the Nov. 20 filing, the Knicks wrote that they intended to prove at trial that their damages exceeded $10 million, while noting that they also intended to seek attorneys' fees. But in Monday's filing, the Raptors argued that the Knicks' claim for damages was not set forth in the complaint or substantiated in any way.

“To the contrary,” the Raptors wrote, “the Knicks have not offered the Court any theory or measure of damages because they suffered no harm but appear to have made this assertion to attract press attention. “

In recent interviews with ESPN, several legal experts called the lawsuit between the Knicks and Raptors virtually unprecedented and difficult to predict.

Robert Boland, a professor of sports law at Seton Hall University Law School who also practices focused on labor and governance issues in sports, recently told ESPN about the case: “I don't see a settlement in this matter, but I don't know if the Knicks are going to win. I don't really see a clear strategy. I think attention is the desired outcome.”