The New York Knicks have officially ended their legal battle with the Toronto Raptors, choosing to permanently dismiss the lawsuit they filed back in 2023, according to ESPN’s Baxter Holmes.
The Knicks had claimed that former team employee Ikechukwu Azotam took thousands of confidential files when he left the organization to join the Raptors. They alleged that he did so “under the direction of Toronto staff to gain a competitive advantage.”
Originally, New York was asking for more than $10 million in damages. The Raptors responded by trying to have the case dismissed and suggested that NBA commissioner Adam Silver handle the dispute directly.
The Knicks pushed back, saying “Silver could not be impartial” because of his close relationship with Larry Tanenbaum, a minority owner of the Raptors. Toronto countered by accusing New York of “using the case for publicity” and even threatened to file a countersuit.
In the end, a judge agreed with Toronto, ruling that “the dispute should be handled by Silver.”
The lawsuit had named the Raptors organization, head coach Darko Rajakovic, player development coach Noah Lewis, Ikechukwu Azotam, and ten unnamed staff members as defendants.
According to Holmes, the case has now been “dismissed with prejudice,” meaning it is closed permanently and cannot be filed again.
Only on Basketball Sphere can you follow free analyses and betting tips for all the top basketball competitions — including the:
This season, we’ve added a wide range of special betting features to our portal, such as:
A brand-new feature this year is our Numbers Game, tracking all the hottest trends in European basketball.