Most of the time, NBA teams battle it out for supremacy on the basketball court.
However, this time two teams might be heading to a match in the courtroom.
The New York Knicks are suing the Toronto Raptors, who allegedly illegally procured and then disclosed proprietary information from the Knicks, according to theScore.
The Knicks are suing the Raptors. 👀 pic.twitter.com/961lesmMpB
— theScore (@theScore) August 21, 2023
A shocking, in-depth report from ESPN dug into the accusations.
According to the Knicks, Ikechukwu Azotam, who worked for them from 2020 to 2023, sent their Toronto rivals thousands of files.
These files included frequency reports, prep books, video scouting files, and opposition research.
This supposedly happened when the Raptors began recruiting Azotam in the summer of 2023, according to ESPN’s reporting.
Azotam was an assistant video coordinator for the Knicks and was also a director of video, analytics, and player development.
Although Azotam did wrong, according to the Knicks, the Raptors were allegedly the ones calling the shots and directing him on what to do.
Raptors head coach Darko Rajaković and 11 other Raptors employees were listed as defendants in the suit.
Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment, the organization that owns the Raptors, said they are opening an internal investigation into the matter and will “reserve further comment until this matter has been resolved to the satisfaction of both parties.”
Some eyebrows were raised because the Raptors didn’t promptly deny all of the allegations against them.
This has some wondering if there is real substance to the accusations.
In total, the Knicks said that Azotam illegally shared over 3,000 files and that the stolen files were accessed by the Raptors more than 2,000 times.
It’s not often that accusations like this are made in the NBA so the lawsuit and any subsequent ruling will surely garner a lot of attention from fans and analysts.
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