The ball is now in the NBA’s court.
The nasty dispute between the Raptors and Knicks should be resolved by Commissioner Adam Silver, not in federal court, according to an order filed Friday by Southern District Judge Jessica Clark and obtained by The Washington Post.
The ruling went against the wishes of the Knicks, who had sued the Raptors for $10 million in damages, accusing them of stealing confidential scouting information through video coordinator Ike Azotum.
The Knicks had accused former employee Azotum of “illegally bringing thousands of proprietary files into his new job with the Raptors.”
Despite Friday’s setback, the Knicks vowed to continue their legal fight.
He gave the Raptors a “proprietary file.” New York Knicks
“We are the victim of the theft of confidential files, which is a clear violation of criminal and civil law, and we continue to explore our legal options,” an MSG Sports spokesperson said in a statement to The Washington Post. “We do not believe it is appropriate for the NBA commissioner to rule on matters involving his boss, the NBA president, and his team.”
The Raptors argued that the files were not confidential and that, according to league rules, the Knicks’ grievance should be arbitrated by the NBA.
The Knicks argued that Silver could not objectively arbitrate the dispute because he was beholden to Larry Tannenbaum, a minority owner of the Raptors.
Tannenbaum is also chairman of the NBA’s Board of Governors and, according to the Knicks’ court filing, “serves as Mr. Silver’s supervisor and exercises significant control over and influence over Mr. Silver’s ongoing employment and compensation.”
The judge rejected that argument.
“This attack on Commissioner Silver’s competency to arbitrate this dispute is premature and tantamount to complaining about an umpire before the game has even started,” Clark wrote.
As outlined in the order, if Silver determines the dispute is not arbitrable, the case could be sent back to court.
The Raptors applauded the ruling in a statement.
“[We] “We are pleased that the court agreed that this matter should be resolved by the NBA. We have maintained that the NBA is the appropriate forum for these types of disputes,” a Raptors spokesman said. “We hope this brings this matter to a close.”
The dispute didn’t stop the two teams from making a blockbuster trade last season, with the Knicks sending RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley to Toronto for OG Anunoby and Precious Achiuwa.
