Calling the Knicks’ lawsuit against them “baseless” and a “public relations stunt,” the Raptors have filed a motion to get it dismissed.
Toronto is searching for to get the case thrown out, saying it has no merit due to an “all-encompassing arbitration clause within the parties’ governing agreement,” in response to court records filed with the United States District Court within the Southern District of Recent York.
An MSG Sports Spokesperson said the franchise is “confident” in its lawsuit.
“As now we have previously stated, given the theft of proprietary and confidential files and clear violation of criminal and civil law, we were left no alternative but to take this to federal court and are confident the judicial system will agree,” the spokesperson said in an announcement.
The Knicks are suing former worker, Ikechukwu Azotam, in addition to the Raptors organization, parent company Maple Leaf Sports, Raptors head coach Darko Rajakovic, player development coach Noah Lewis and 10 unnamed John Does for allegedly stealing proprietary information from the franchise.
Azotam was hired by the Knicks in October of 2020 as an assistant video coordinator and left the team in August as a director of video, analytics and player development assistant.
The Knicks allege that Rajakovic, a rookie head coach, used Azotam’s experience with the Knicks to get him in control.
Included within the suit, the Knicks say that Azotam “began secretly forwarding proprietary information from his Knicks email account to his personal Gmail account, which he then shared with Raptors defendants.”