The New York Knicks are suing the Toronto Raptors as well as their parent company, Maple Leaf Sports Entertainment, alleging that a former Knicks employee who joined the Raptors this summer stole proprietary information and took it with him to his new job.
“MLSE and the Toronto Raptors received a letter from MSG on Thursday of last week bringing this complaint to our attention,” MLSE said in a statement. “MLSE responded promptly, making clear our intention to conduct an internal investigation and to fully cooperate. MLSE has not been advised that a lawsuit was being filed or has been filed following its correspondence with MSG. The company strongly denies any involvement in the matters alleged. MLSE and the Toronto Raptors will reserve further comment until this matter has been resolved to the satisfaction of both parties.”
The lawsuit, which the Knicks filed Monday in federal court in New York’s Southern District, 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 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 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.
“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 Knicks are suing the Raptors, alleging that a former employee, Ikechukwu Azotam, “illegally took thousands of proprietary files with him to his new position with the Toronto Raptors,” MSG Sports said in a statement to @TheAthleticNBA. @IanBegley was first with the news.
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 10 John Does are “currently unknown Toronto Raptors employees who improperly obtained Knicks proprietary information, and at all relevant times were employed by the Raptors in Toronto, Ontario, in Canada,” the lawsuit reads.
The suit also names Lewis, an assistant video coordinator and player development coach with the Raptors, as a defendant. In 2021, Lewis was a recipient of the Wayne & Theresa Embry Fellowship, the club’s program that allows Canadians to work for the Raptors in a variety of departments throughout a season. He was an assistant coach for the Raptors 905 last year. The suit alleges Lewis, along with Rajaković, received five separate zip files from Azotam on Aug. 5.
The lawsuit says that Azotam told the Knicks he had an offer from the Raptors on or around July 25, 2023, and adds that his final day with the organization was Aug. 14.
The Raptors have not announced Azotam’s hiring, although the Raptors do not publicize every coaching/management addition that they make.
“As a first time NBA head coach, Defendant Rajaković would be expected to bring his own organizational structure and coaching method. Apparently, given his non-traditional path to his head coaching job, Defendant Rajaković did not have his own, so he chose to exploit the Knicks’ methods,” the lawsuit claims.
Rajaković is the second person born outside of North America to be named an NBA head coach. He began coaching in what is now called the G League in 2012, joined the Thunder’s coaching staff in July 2014 and has remained an NBA assistant until the Raptors hired him this summer.
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 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, 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.”
NEW YORK – Toronto Blue Jays reliever Chad Green and Canadian slugger Tyler O’Neill of the Boston Red Sox were named finalists for the Major League Baseball Players’ Association’s American League comeback player award on Monday.
Chicago White Sox left-hander Garrett Crochet was the other nominee.
New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge, Los Angeles Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani and Kansas City Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. were named player of the year finalists.
The award winners, selected via player voting, will be named Saturday before Game 2 of the World Series.
Green, who missed most of the 2022 and ’23 seasons after undergoing Tommy John surgery, was a high-leverage option for the Blue Jays this past season and filled in at closer over the second half of the campaign.
The right-hander converted his first 16 save opportunities and finished the year with a 4-6 record, 17 saves and a 3.21 earned-run average over 53 appearances.
O’Neill, a native of Burnaby, B.C., also endured back-to-back injury-plagued seasons in ’22 and ’23.
After being traded to the Red Sox in the off-season, O’Neill set an MLB record by hitting a homer in his fifth straight Opening Day. He finished with 31 homers on the year and had an OPS of .847.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 21, 2024.
NEW YORK – Florida Panthers centre Sam Reinhart was named NHL first star of the week on Monday after leading all players with nine points over four games last week.
Reinhart had four goals, five assists and a plus-seven rating to help the Stanley Cup champions post a 3-0-1 record on the week and move into first place in the Atlantic Division.
New York Rangers left-winger Artemi Panarin took the second star and Minnesota Wild goaltenderFilip Gustavsson was the third star.
Panarin had eight points (4-4) over three games.
Gustavsson became the 15th goalie in NHL history to score a goal and had a 1.00 goals-against average and .962 save percentage over a pair of victories.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 21, 2024.
CLEVELAND (AP) — Deshaun Watson won’t finish the season as Cleveland’s starting quarterback for the second straight year.
He’s injured again, and the Browns have new problems.
Watson ruptured his right Achilles tendon in the first half of Sunday’s loss to Cincinnati, collapsing as he began to run and leading some Browns fans to cheer while the divisive QB laid on the ground writhing in pain.
The team feared Watson’s year was over and tests done Monday confirmed the rupture. The Browns said Watson will have surgery and miss the rest of the season but “a full recovery is expected.”
It’s the second significant injury in two seasons for Watson, who broke the glenoid (socket) bone in his throwing shoulder last year after just six starts.
The 29-year-old went down Sunday without being touched on a draw play late in the first half. His right leg buckled and Watson crumpled to the turf. TV replays showed his calf rippling, consistent with an Achilles injury.
He immediately put his hands on his helmet, clearly aware of the severity of an injury similar to the one Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers sustained last year.
As he was being assisted by the team’s medical staff and backup Dorian Thompson-Robinson grabbed a ball to begin warming up, there was some derisive cheers and boos from the stands in Huntington Bank Field.
Cleveland fans have been split over Watson, who has been accused of being sexually inappropriate with women.
The reaction didn’t sit well with several Watson’s teammates, including star end Myles Garrett, the NFL’s reigning Defensive Player of the Year, who was appalled by the fans’ behavior.
“We should be ashamed of ourselves as Browns and as fans to boo anyone and their downfall. To be season-altering, career-altering injury,” Garrett said. “Man’s not perfect. He doesn’t need to be. None of us are expected to be perfect. Can’t judge him for what he does off the field or on the field because I can’t throw stones for my glass house.
“Ultimately everyone’s human and they’re disappointed just like we are, but we have to be better than that as people. There’s levels to this. At the end of the day, it’s just a game and you don’t boo anybody being injured and you don’t celebrate anyone’s downfall.”
Backup quarterback Jameis Winston also admonished the uncomfortable celebration.
“I am very upset with the reaction to a man that has had the world against him for the past four years, and he put his body and life on the line for this city every single day,” he said. “The way I was raised, I will never pull on a man when he’s down, but I will be the person to lift him up.
“I know you love this game. When I first got here, I knew these were some amazing fans, but Deshaun was treated badly and now he has to overcome another obstacle. So I’m going to support him, I’m going to lift him up and I’m going to be there for him.”
The injury is yet another twist in Watson’s tumultuous time with the Browns.
Cleveland traded three first-round draft picks and five overall to Houston in 2022 to get him, with owners Dee and Jimmy Haslam approving the team giving Watson a fully guaranteed, five-year $230 million contract.
With a solid roster, the Browns were desperate to find a QB who could help them compete against the top AFC teams.
The Browns had moved on from Baker Mayfield despite drafting him No. 1 overall in 2018 and making the playoffs two seasons later.
But Watson has not played up to expectations — fans have been pushing for him to be benched this season — and Cleveland’s move to get him has been labeled an abject failure with the team still on the hook to pay him $46 million in each of the next two seasons.
Watson’s arrival in Cleveland also came amid accusations by more than two dozen women of sexual assault and harassment during massage therapy sessions while he played for the Texans. Two grand juries declined to indict him and he has settled civil lawsuits in all but one of the cases.
Watson was suspended by the NFL for his first 11 games and fined $5 million for violating the league’s personal conduct policy before he took his first snap with the Browns. The long layoff — he sat out the 2021 season in a contract dispute — led to struggles once he got on the field, and Watson made just six starts last season before hurting his shoulder.
Cleveland signed veteran Joe Flacco, who went 4-1 as a starter and led the Browns to the playoffs.
Before Watson got hurt this year, he didn’t play much better. He was one of the league’s lowest-rated passers for a Cleveland team that hasn’t scored 20 points in a game and is back in search of a franchise QB.
