The New York Knicks on Monday sued the Toronto Raptors, members of the Raptors organization and a former Knicks employee whom they alleged “illegally procured and then disclosed proprietary information” to their Atlantic Division rival.
According to a copy of the lawsuit, which was filed in the U.S. District Court in Manhattan and was obtained by ESPN, the Knicks state that Ikechukwu Azotam, who worked for the Knicks from 2020 to 2023, sent the Raptors thousands of confidential files — including play frequency reports, a prep book for the 2022-23 season, video scouting files, opposition research and more — after the team began recruiting him to join their organization in summer 2023.
The Knicks accused Azotam — who worked for the Knicks as an assistant video coordinator, then as a director of video/analytics/player development assistant — of violating a confidentiality clause in an employment agreement and alleged that members of the Raptors “directed Azotam’s actions and/or knowingly benefited from Azotam’s wrongful acts.”
Further, the Knicks alleged that the Raptors “conspired to use Azotam’s position as a current Knicks insider to funnel proprietary information to the Raptors to help them organize, plan, and structure the new coaching and video operations staff,” the lawsuit states.
