The NBA will hold an arbitration meeting the week of July 21, addressing a legal dispute between the Toronto Raptors and New York Knicks, as confirmed by a recent court filing.

This dispute, which has lasted nearly two years, began in August 2023 when the Knicks alleged the Raptors had stolen vast amounts of confidential files. The initial lawsuit claimed that the Raptors had asked Ikechukwu Azotam, who worked with the Knicks as an assistant video coordinator, to share sensitive Knicks data during the recruiting process. The stolen material reportedly included play frequency reports, a prep book for the 2022-23 season, and opposition research files.

In their November 2023 response, the Raptors deemed the Knicks’ allegations “baseless” and declared them a public relations maneuver, maintaining that the materials in question were publicly accessible to NBA members. The Raptors requested intervention from NBA commissioner Adam Silver, leading a judge to determine, in July 2024, that Silver should resolve the issue—something the Knicks contest, citing potential bias due to Silver’s association with Raptors governor Larry Tanenbaum.

A recent statement from Madison Square Garden Sports indicated skepticism toward the NBA’s willingness to tackle what they termed “blatant theft of proprietary information.”

Settlement of this unusually rare legal proceeding between two NBA teams is being sought, with the Knicks pursuing damages of $10 million.