Raptors file motion to dismiss Knicks' lawsuit or move to arbitration
CTV
The Toronto Raptors have asked for the New York Knicks lawsuit against them to be dismissed.
The Toronto Raptors have asked for the New York Knicks lawsuit against them to be dismissed.
Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, which owns the Raptors, filed the motion for dismissal in New York's Southern District on Monday. MLSE filed the legal documents on behalf of the NBA club, head coach Darko Rajakovic and 12 other individual defendants.
Legal documents show that MLSE is asking the court to put the matter before an arbiter, dismiss the lawsuit, or stay the legal proceedings until that proposed arbitration is resolved.
"This baseless lawsuit is a public relations stunt by the Knicks," reads the preliminary statement of the filing. "It has no business wasting judicial resources given the all-encompassing arbitration clause in the parties’ governing agreement.
"Unless they reverse course and accept the jurisdiction of the NBA Commissioner as the parties agreed, the Knicks have chosen a forum that would likely not even be able to commence substantive proceedings until after the upcoming NBA season concludes and not ultimately resolve the dispute until 2025 at the earliest."
Spokespeople for MLSE and the Raptors offered no comment on the new motion or the lawsuit itself.
The Knicks filed suit against the Raptors, Rajakovic and former Knicks scouting employee Ikechukwu Azotam on Aug. 22, alleging the defendants conspired to steal thousands of videos and other scouting secrets in July and August.
