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NBA Sets Hearing Date For Knicks-Raptors Dispute

The NBA will wait until the offseason to oversee the ongoing legal battle between the New York Knicks and Toronto Raptors.

Geoff Magliocchetti

Oct 28, 2019; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; A general view of the Toronto Raptors court logo before a game against the Orlando Magic at Scotiabank Arena. Mandatory Credit: Nick Turchiaro-Imagn Images
Oct 28, 2019; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; A general view of the Toronto Raptors court logo before a game against the Orlando Magic at Scotiabank Arena. Mandatory Credit: Nick Turchiaro-Imagn Images / Nick Turchiaro-Imagn Images
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There is a reported end in sight to the New York Knicks' showdown with the Toronto Raptors in a different kind of court.

Per Stefan Bondy of the New York Post, the NBA has set a hearing regarding the New York Knicks' ongoing legal battle with the Toronto Raptors for "late July." The Knicks have an active suit against the Raptors for the alleged theft of proprietary information by a former team staffer who transferred to Toronto.

Earlier this week, the Knicks reportedly expressed frustration with the NBA's pace on the case, per SNY's Ian Begley. As Bondy noted, if the league sticks to the late July 2025 timeline, it would be 13 months after a New York judge ruled for NBA arbitration on the case. The seven-month stretch between the judge's decision and Tuesday's developments has left MSG Sports "skeptical," as indicated in a statement obtained by Knicks on SI.

“Last June, the Courts ordered the NBA to arbitrate this theft of proprietary and confidential files - and now, after the NBA sat on this for seven months, we are being told that we will finally get a hearing in another seven months," an MSG Sports spokesperson said. "We remain skeptical because the NBA has consistently demonstrated no desire to address this matter, most likely due to the fact that the Chairman of the NBA is the defendant.”

Management has also labeled the league's involvement as a conflict of interest thanks to commissioner Adam Silver's friendship with Larry Tanenbaum, the chairman of Raptors parent company, Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment. Knicks owner James Dolan has stepped down from his roles on several NBA Board of Governor committees to further ensure the case is tried fairly.

As for the Knicks' potential endgame in the suit, Tampa-based attorney and trade secret expert Kevin Paule told Knicks on SI that the team will at least seek league discipline for the alleged theft of proprietary information.

"Here, I guess the employee has left for a competitor but they're not trying to take customers they're just trying to gain a competitive edge and use all the very sophisticated and detail-oriented stuff that the Knicks have compiled in their front office," Paule said in August 2023. "So I think there are a few different reasons that somebody would file a lawsuit like this, the first one being that you want to, for lack of a better term, you want to shut it down," 

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Geoff Magliocchetti
GEOFF MAGLIOCCHETTI

Editor-In-Chief at All Knicks

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