It may sound like a movie, but it happened just like that. The New York Knicks have filed a lawsuit against the Toronto Raptors, members of the Canadian organization and a former employee of the Knicks themselves, understanding that they “illegally obtained proprietary information and subsequently disclosed it; reports SportsNet New York.
The germ of the facts would be in the former employee of the team Ikechukwu Azotam, who has worked for the New Yorkers between 2020 and 2023 before changing jobs to go to Toronto this summer. According to a copy of the complaint, which was filed in United States District Court in Manhattan and obtained by ESPNthe Knicks claim that person sent thousands of confidential files to the Raptors, including game reports, a 2022-23 season preparation book, video scouting files, opponent research and others, once the Raptors closed. They contacted him to recruit him.
The accusation against Azota, who worked in New York as an assistant video coordinator and later as a video director/analysis/assistant player development, alleges violating a confidentiality clause in a labor agreement. As for the Raptors, they are accused of directing the footsteps of Azotam and knowingly benefiting from his wrongdoing.
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Focusing on the Canadian organization, the Knicks allege that it “conspired to use Azotam’s position as a current member of the Knicks to funnel proprietary information to the Raptors and help them organize, plan, and structure new coaching and video operations personnel.” », affirms the demand, in which the names of the head coach of Toronto, Darko Rajaković, as well as player development coach, Noah Lewis, and 10 other employees.
As to what the Knicks hope to achieve with this complaint, they ask that unspecified damages be determined, that the Raptors refrain from using confidential information obtained from the Knicks, and that Azotam not be able to obtain any benefit as a result of its misappropriation. and illegal acts.
Chronology of events
It was in July 2023 when Azotam informed the Knicks about the Raptors’ offer and that he planned to accept it. It would have been around the same time that the employee would have started forwarding proprietary information from his work email account to his personal one, and from there to the Raptures staff. In addition, he would have used his access to services contracted by the Knicks with Sinergy Sports to create and transfer to the Raptors more than 3,000 files with information and video data.
The day the Knicks learned of what had happened was August 15, 2023, just the day after Azotam left the New York organization. It is estimated that in total he illegally shared 3,358 video files.
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Raptors response
Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment, owner of the Raptors, as well as the organization itself, have responded to the lawsuit with a joint statement in which they express themselves in the following terms:
“MLSE and the Toronto Raptors received a letter of [Madison Square Garden] on Thursday of last week informing us about this complaint. MLSE responded promptly, making clear our intention to conduct an internal investigation and cooperate fully. MLSE has not been informed that a lawsuit was being or was filed after its correspondence with MSG. The company strenuously denies any involvement in the alleged matters. MLSE and the Toronto Raptors will reserve further comment until this matter has been resolved to the satisfaction of both parties.”
(Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
2023-08-22 10:00:00
#Knicks #sue #Raptors #espionage
