Knicks, Raptors dismiss 2023 lawsuit over proprietary files

The New York Knicks and Toronto Raptors announced on Oct. 10, 2025 that they have voluntarily dismissed a 2023 lawsuit in which the Knicks accused a former employee of taking thousands of proprietary files to Toronto. Team spokespeople said the parties have withdrawn their respective claims and are focused on the future, bringing a more than two-year legal dispute to a close.

The lawsuit, filed in August 2023 in federal court in Manhattan, accused former Knicks video and analytics staffer Ikechukwu Azotam of forwarding team-owned files to a personal account after accepting a role with the Raptors. New York sought more than $10 million in damages, alleging the materials included play frequency reports, a 2022-23 prep book, video scouting files and access to the Knicks’ subscription to a private analytics platform, and that those materials could provide a competitive advantage to Toronto.

Toronto denied the allegations, saying the claims lacked merit and that the material at issue consisted largely of information that can be compiled from publicly available game footage and standard scouting sources. The Raptors also urged that the dispute be resolved within the league rather than...