The New York Knicks and Toronto Raptors have dropped a lawsuit involving the alleged theft of thousands of files that were tied to the Raptors’ hiring of Darko Rajaković as coach in 2023. The Knicks dismissed their lawsuit against the Raptors and Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, which owns and operates the Raptors, on Friday, according to a legal filing by the team in the U.S. District Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York.
The Knicks dismissed the case “with prejudice,” permanently ending the matter.
“The Knicks and MLSE withdrew their respective claims and the matter is resolved,” a Raptors spokesperson said in a statement to The Athletic. “The parties are focused on the future.”
The lawsuit alleged that Ikechukwu Azotam, a former Knicks employee who joined the Raptors in the summer 2023, stole proprietary information and took it with him to his new Raptors job.
The Knicks alleged in the suit that not only did Rajaković know about what was occurring, but also that he “recruited and used” Azotam, the Knicks’ director of video, analytics and player development at the time of Rajaković’s hiring with the Raptors, to help Rajaković build out the operations for his coaching staff.
The lawsuit alleged that Azotam stole proprietary information — including “scouting reports, play frequency reports, a prep book and a link to third-party licensed software” — and used it to help Rajaković acclimate to his first head coaching job. The suit said that in July 2023, around the time Azotam told the Knicks he had a job offer from Toronto, he started forwarding information from his Knicks email account to his personal Gmail account.
The suit 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 with film and data, including 3,358 video files. The Knicks discovered his transfer on Aug. 15 and said that those files were accessed more than 2,000 times by the defendants.
The lawsuit said that Azotam told the Knicks he had an offer from the Raptors on or around July 25, 2023, and adds that his final day with the organization was Aug. 14.
Azotam remains with the Raptors as head video coordinator/player development coach.
The Knicks were suing for more than $10 million in damages, saying that the Raptors were using the clips, in part, to help organize their new coaching and video staff. Toronto responded by calling the lawsuit a “public relations stunt,” saying the alleged theft involved Azotam sending publicly available clips to several members of the Raptors.
The Knicks also claimed NBA commissioner Adam Silver was incapable of fairly judging their dispute, saying he was too close to Raptors minority owner Larry Tanenbaum, who also served as chairman of the NBA’s Board of Governors.
The two sides ultimately ended up in arbitration hearings with the NBA this summer after a judge’s ruling.
Of note, Rogers Communications closed a deal in July to obtain a majority ownership stake of MLSE, lessening Tanenbaum’s power in the organization going forward.
