Why are New York Knicks suing Toronto Raptors and former assistant video coordinator Ike Azotam?

The New York Knicks are suing several employees of the Toronto Raptors and the organization itself for stealing proprietary information. This case includes a former Knicks employee, who has also been included in the list of employees that New York has filed a case against.

The former employee who has been included in the lawsuit has been revealed to be Ike Azotam. Azotam was hired by the Knicks in 2020 as an assistant video coordinator. Eventually, he moved up the ranks and became a director of video/analytics/player development assistant in a short span of time until 2023.

Azotam, who used to play professional basketball, was hired by the Toronto Raptors this June. According to MSG, they have decided to file a lawsuit against the Toronto franchise for "illegally procured and disclosed proprietary information." This also includes their new head coach, Darko Rajakovic.

MSG released a statement regarding this recently.

"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," according to the statement. "Given the clear violation of our employment agreement, criminal and civil law, we were left no choice but to take this action."

The Knicks have also claimed the Raptors' intentions, as they "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."

According to reports, during the time when Azotam informed the Knicks about the offer from the Raptors, he began,

"secretly forwarding proprietary information from his Knicks email account to his personal Gmail account, which he then shared with the Raptors Defendants. These materials included scouting reports, play frequency reports, a prep book, and a link to third-party licensed software."

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New York Knicks' president attended Joel Embiid's wedding, hints at potential trade

Joel Embiid could get traded to the Knicks soon

NBA insider, Marc Stein, recently talked about a potential trade that would move the reigning league MVP to Madison Square Garden. His situation with the Philadelphia 76ers isn't getting any better, with Daryl Morey and James Harden not being comfortable working together in the same organization.

The president of the New York Knicks, Leon Rose, attended Joel Embiid's wedding this summer, which could hint at a potential trade to acquire him. Rose used to be the agent of Embiid, but most people have speculated that Rose's attendance isn't "not nothing."

"Both Knicks president Leon Rose and his top aide William Wesley were at Embiid's recent wedding and, while true that Rose and Wesley used to represent Embiid as player agents, it has been suggested that their attendance was 'not nothing.'" Stein reported.