FOUL

Knicks Sue Raptors Over Alleged ‘Mole’ Stealing Secret Info

The Knicks’ parent company said they were left with “no choice but to take this action.”

The New York Knicks sued the Toronto Raptors on Monday over allegations that the Raptors’ new coaching staff employed a “mole” who supplied them with the Knicks’ scouting reports and other trade secrets. The Knicks claim that their former video, analytics, and player-development assistant Ikechukwu Azotam stole thousands of proprietary files and handed them to the Raptors. Azotam, who left the Knicks last week, was offered a job by the Raptors in June and he informed the Knicks in July. The suit claims that around the same time, he began giving his new employers secret information, including details of the Knicks’ organizational structure and game films edited by its scouting team. Azotam, several unnamed Raptors employees, and the Raptors’ recently appointed Head Coach Darko Rajakovic were named as defendants. “As a first time NBA head coach, Defendant Rajakovic would be expected to bring his own organizational structure and coaching method,” the lawsuit said. “Apparently, given his non-traditional path to his head coaching job, Defendant Rajakovic did not have his own, so he chose to exploit the Knicks’ methods.”