The New York Knicks have initiated legal proceedings against a former team member, accusing them of pilfering confidential proprietary data from the franchise and subsequently transferring it to their new role with the Toronto Raptors.
In a lawsuit officially lodged at the United States District Court in the Southern District of New York on Monday, the Knicks have named Ikechukwu Azotam, the former employee in question, along with the Raptors organization, Raptors head coach Darko Rajaković, and player development coach Noah Lewis.
In an official statement provided to The Post, the Knicks revealed, "The New York Knicks have taken legal action against the Toronto Raptors and multiple individuals within their organization, including a previous Knicks staff member, who is alleged to have illicitly transported numerous confidential files to their new role with the Toronto Raptors."
The statement further disclosed, "Among these files are sensitive materials such as play frequency assessments, a comprehensive guidebook for the 2022-23 season, video scouting documentation, and various other resources. Faced with the unequivocal breach of our contractual agreement and violations of both criminal and civil law, we had no alternative but to pursue this course of action."
The lawsuit contends that Darko Rajaković, a fledgling head coach, purportedly aimed to leverage Azotam's experience from their tenure with the Knicks to expedite their integration into their new responsibilities.
The lawsuit was first reported by SNY.
The suit alleges that Azotam “began secretly forwarding proprietary information from his Knicks email account to his personal Gmail account, which he then shared with Raptors defendants.”
The suit specified the files Azotam allegedly brought with him to his job with the Raptors.
“These materials included scouting reports, play frequency reports, a prep book, and
a link to third-party licensed software,” the suit continued.