Source: https://theathletic.com/4794269/2023/08/21/knicks-raptors-lawsuit/?source=user_shared_article
> The lawsuit alleges Azotam, the Knicks’ former director of video, analytics, and player development, stole proprietary information — including “scouting reports, play frequency reports, a prep book, and a link to third-party licensed software” — and used it in an effort to help Rajaković acclimate to his first head coaching job. The suit says that in July, around the time Azotam told the Knicks he had a job offer from Toronto, he started to forward information from his Knicks email account to his personal Gmail account.
> The lawsuit, which the Knicks filed Monday, names 14 defendants: the Raptors, as well as MLSE; new Raptors head coach Darko Rajaković; Raptors player development coach Noah Lewis; 10 unnamed John Does; and the aforementioned former Knicks employee, Ikechukwu Azotam, who the lawsuit says took a job with Toronto this month. The Knicks allege that not only did Rajaković know about what was occurring but that he “recruited and used” the then-Knicks employee to help him build out the operations for his coaching staff.
> The suit alleges that the Raptors defendants directed Azotam to “misuse” his access to the Knicks’ Synergy Sports account to create and transfer more than 3,000 files with film and data, including 3,358 video files. The Knicks discovered his transfer on Aug. 15 and say that those files were accessed more than 2,000 times by the defendants.
> The lawsuit also alleges that “Defendant Rajaković and the other Raptor Defendants recruited and used Azotam to serve as a mole within the Knicks organization to convey information that would assist the Raptors Defendants in trying to manage their team.”
> The Knicks allege that the Raptors defendants violated the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, that all defendants violated the Defend Trade Secrets Act and that they misappropriated trade secrets under NY common law, and that Azotam breached his contract, and that the Raptors defendants committed tortious interference with Azotam who was under contract. There are other counts and eight in all.
by UnbiasedNBAFan_
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“To assist this novice coach in doing his job, Defendant Rajaković and the other Raptors Defendants 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 reads, according to legal filings The Athletic uncovered Monday.
The suit says on Aug. 11, Azotam sent two emails from his Knicks email account to his Raptors account with what they say is proprietary and confidential information. In one email, which had a subject line of FW: INDIANA GAME 82, he had an advanced scouting report of the Pacers, diagrams of more than 250 Pacers plays and spreadsheet of play frequency, and a spreadsheet with Pacers play calls for a game, the suit claims. It alleges he sent another email with similar information about the Denver Nuggets.
“Azotam also emailed his personal email address several documents containing additional proprietary Knicks information,” the lawsuit reads.
”He provided this material to the Raptors Defendants at their request, including: a. the prep book for the 2022-23 season includes confidential information related to the Knicks’ process for planning its season, including the template and organizational structure that the Knicks used to plan and assign scouting responsibilities.”
The suit alleges that Azotam illegally shared 3,358 video files with the Raptors.The Knicks allege that the Raptors defendants violated the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, that all defendants violated the Defend Trade Secrets Act and that they misappropriated trade secrets under NY common law, and that Azotam breached his contract, and that the Raptors defendants committed tortious interference with Azotam who was under contract. There are other counts and eight in all.
A written statement that an MSG Sports spokesperson provided to The Athletic states that “we were left no choice but to take this action.”
The Knicks will dismiss the claim when Toronto trades OG for Fournier.
Lol clowns. Masai is literally just lucky golden state got injured in 2019z
Teams are out to get the Knicks org inside info?
Sounds like progress to me 😂
Years ago, if they had access to that inside info they would drop it in a trash can whilst laughing about it…
They should lose at least a first round pick for this shit. If their GM was involved he should be removed
Hopefully they can find someone experienced in dinosaur law
If true it’s easily provable and he’s cooked from a personal wage clawback standpoint (that’s how it works In my job). Unless he’s a wonder kid probably blackballed from the industry. Going to assume the nba has extra policies.
Happy 10th anniversary to the “Fuck Masai Ujiri” club.