For the first time, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver this week addressed the lawsuit filed against the Raptors by the Knicks regarding stolen proprietary information.
“On that dispute, I don’t know more than what I read in the complaint that was filed in federal court, and so I don’t have a sense yet of how egregious it is, and I haven’t had an opportunity to see what the Raptors response is,” Silver told the media on Wednesday. “This ultimately may end up in front of me, so I think it’s appropriate to withhold judgment.”
In case you missed it, New York filed the lawsuit on August 21 and alleged that a former employee named Ikechukwu Azotam was stealing information to take with him to his new job at Toronto.
“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. Given the clear violation of our employment agreement, criminal and civil law, we were left no choice but to take this action,” A spokesperson for Madison Square Garden Sports said at the time.
The lawsuit named 14 defendants including the Raptors team, MLSE, new Raptors head coach Darko Rajaković, Raptors player development coach Noah Lewis, ten unnamed people and of course, Azotam.
Azotam worked for the Knicks as an assistant video coordinator and then as a director of video / analytics / player development assistant from 2020-23 then was allegedly recruited by Toronto around June / July of 2023.
It is unclear what the consequences of the lawsuit will be as yet, but it certainly isn’t a good look for incoming coach Rajaković.