The Raptors “fired back” at the most recent claims made by the Knicks in the ongoing lawsuit between the two teams, accusing the Knicks of dragging out the case "as long as possible" because of the public nature of the lawsuit, claiming it "is directed at harming the Raptors, its head coach and members of his staff," according to Baxter Holmers of ESPN.com. For the first time, the Raptors also stated that once this dispute is resolved, the defendants named in the lawsuit “reserved the right to pursue legal action against the Knicks for defamatory public statements,” including accusing them of committing "clear violation of criminal and civil law." Holmes notes that the Raptors again asked the U.S. District Court in Manhattan to “compel arbitration by NBA commissioner Adam Silver and to dismiss the Knicks' claims” -- both points that the Knicks have rejected multiple times. In a Nov. 20 filing, the Knicks argued that Silver “couldn't arbitrate the dispute in part because the Knicks were seeking more than $10 million in damages” -- and Article 24 of the NBA's constitution states that the commissioner cannot issue a penalty of more than $10M. The Knicks also referenced Silver's relationship with Raptors governor Larry Tanenbaum as a “potential conflict of interest." The original complaint, filed in August, accused former Knicks employee Ikechukwu Azotam, who worked for the Knicks from 2020 to 2023, of sending the Raptors “thousands of confidential files” after the team began recruiting him to join their organization in the summer of 2023 (ESPN.com, 12/12).
