Since resigning from his Board of Governors committee positions, owner James Dolan and the Knicks launched a lawsuit against the Raptors seeking more than $10MM in damages over an issue that would typically be arbitrated by the NBA.
The suit, which alleges that a former team employee illegally took “confidential” files with him to his new position in Toronto, accused commissioner Adam Silver of bias due to his friendship with Raptors chairman Larry Tanenbaum and Tanenbaum’s position as chairman of the Board of Governors.
As Baxter Holmes writes in an in-depth story for ESPN, Dolan also has a lengthy history with Raptors president Masai Ujiri. Back in 2011, when Ujiri was Denver’s lead basketball executive, he traded Carmelo Anthony to New York — a deal in which Dolan was later criticized for giving up too much on a player who wanted to sign with the Knicks in free agency.
Ujiri had another famous trade with the Knicks a couple years later while he was running the Raptors, Holmes notes, sending Andrea Bargnani to New York for Marcus Camby, Steve Novak and multiple first-round picks. Bargnani only played 71 games over two seasons with New York.
Dolan reportedly nixed a deal between Toronto and New York that same year — 2013 — that would have sent Kyle Lowry to the Knicks because he “didn’t want to get fleeced again by Masai,” a source told The New York Daily News.
ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported a few years ago that Ujiri was Dolan’s “dream candidate” to run the Knicks, but he wound up returning to the Raptors on a long-term deal in 2021.
As far as the ongoing lawsuit, legal experts, analytics staffers and rival executives alike are skeptical and “generally dismissive” of the Knicks’ claims, according to Holmes.
“If you were concerned about privacy and the loss of proprietary information, the last place you would be pursuing that is in a court proceeding seeking only monetary damages — because whether it’s actually proprietary is going to be an issue,” said Robert Boland, a professor of sports law at Seton Hall University Law School who also maintains a practice focused on sports labor and governance issues.
“You have to prove your damages in this circumstance and you’re going to have to tell the court, and by extension the public, what they took from you and what its value was. So more of that becomes public, which likely means the Knicks don’t care about it. I’m assuming by the time we get through the court hearings, all this information will be out of date. I’m not sure the subject matter is proprietary or that it’s even timely anymore.”
Executives in particular cited Dolan’s “litigious reputation,” Holmes adds.
“I think this is a complete middle finger from Dolan to Larry Tanenbaum — and I think it’s nothing more than that,” one Eastern Conference executive told ESPN.
According to Holmes, the Raptors are expected to file a response to the Knicks’ latest filing on December 11. Boland — one of the legal experts Holmes spoke to — is unsure what will happen next.
“I don’t see a settlement in this case, but I don’t know if the Knicks are going to win,” said Boland, an admitted Knicks fan. “I don’t really see a clear strategy. I think the attention is the desired outcome.”
Raptors head coach Darko Rajakovic is also named in the lawsuit. He once again defended himself amid the allegations and said he’s looking forward to the case being resolved, per Stefan Bondy of The New York Post.
“Support from the beginning was just fine because we talked about it, we explained what happened or what did not happen. I know who I am, I know my integrity, I know who I represent,” Rajakovic said. “I represent one amazing organization and people in the front office and the players. I’m really looking forward for all of this to be solved and for everybody to find out the truth. I’ve got nothing to worry about.”
Man if only the Raptors used all of that valuable, proprietary data and not lose by 20 last night vs the Knicks.
Boy am I glad Dolan has taken a step back and isn’t as meddlesome as he used to be.
Trying to paint guys like Rajakovic and Ujiri as running a slimy, underhanded organization that violates rules and any order of good conduct is like trying to pin a murder charge on a couple nuns who run a charity for sick children. You have to be an all-world ass to think of even making the accusation. Then you go around all appropriate channels to handle it privately so you can immediately send out a news release and call attention for everyone to notice you making an ass of yourself? That’s the kind of thing legendary asses do.
Not the only item on Dolan’s record by a long shot and not even the worst, but you have to hand it to him. He wants to be remembered as the biggest ass of his generation and he’s putting in the work.
You don’t really think Dolan gives aShhh about them. This is about abusing his trust. He stole files. And Raptors accepted them with open arms. Dolan doesn’t like the Raptors owners. So he’s not backing down.
Maybe Dolan can capitalize on this newfound attention by coming out with his own new line of actual ass hats called Ass Hats by Ass Hat, #AssHat.
Raptors are a mess. They have talent. Just can’t make it work. Now they understand the true value of a PG. JVV is not a top PG. But he is one, a solid one who can score. Just look at both teams. Raptors, Rockets …..
DeM DeR >>>> to Knickerbockers ….