Raptors fire back at Knicks, hint at defamation countersuit - ESPN

In a blistering court filing Monday night obtained by ESPN, the Toronto Raptors fired back at the most recent claims made by the New York Knicks in the ongoing lawsuit between the two teams concerning the alleged theft of thousands of confidential files, with the Raptors accusing the Knicks of dragging out the case «as long as possible because this lawsuit attracts publicity and is directed at harming the Raptors, its head coach and members of his staff.»

For the first time, the Raptors also stated that once this dispute is resolved, the defendants named in the lawsuit — which include several Toronto staffers, including coach Darko Rajaković — 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.»

Further, 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 but most pointedly in their Nov. 20 filing.

In that 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 $10 million. The Knicks also referenced Silver's relationship with Raptors governor Larry Tanenbaum as a potential conflict of interest.

On Monday, the Raptors responded to that point.

«The NBA Commissioner is not biased and he is the best person to adjudicate this dispute because of his ability to identify what, if any, information is confidential and proprietary such that its misuse may