Ian Begley is a reporter covering the Knicks, Nets and the NBA for @SNYtv

This is in reference to the lawsuit this summer - https://apnews.com/article/knicks-raptors-lawsuit-5eaac2d5dc7abb3366d7f1d4d37fc0e2

TLDR: Knicks argue that Adam Silver cannot fairly oversee arbitration as a Raptors’ minority owner currently serves as the Chairman of the Board of Governors. Knicks are also seeking over $10 million in damages and the league process caps at 10.

Full tweets on the topic:

https://twitter.com/IanBegley/status/1726684894342922707

Knicks have filed response in lawsuit vs Raptors. They argue that NBA commissioner Adam Silver shouldn’t be the person to arbitrate the disagreement between the teams. Statement from MSG Sports spokesperson: “We were the victim of a theft of proprietary and confidential files, which is a clear violation of criminal and civil law, and we remain confident that the Court will decide in our favor in this matter.”

https://twitter.com/IanBegley/status/1726687296249106617

In filing, Knicks argue that alleged intellectual property theft by a ex-employee currently w/TOR falls outside the purview of the NBA constitution. They compel the court to not send case to an arbiter. They cite Adam Silver’s previous deferral to the court to decide the matter

https://twitter.com/IanBegley/status/1726689943219814679

In Knicks’ response to Raptors, NYK lawyers write that they intend to prove in trial that damages related to the alleged intellectual property theft exceed $10 million. The penalty Adam Silver can levy a team is capped at $10 million, per the NBA Constitution.

https://twitter.com/IanBegley/status/1726690824451473485

In argument against arbitration in their dispute vs. TOR, NYK lawyers write that ‘a Raptors’ minority owner currently serves as the Chairman of the Board of Governors, which is the head of the body that hired (and can fire) the Commissioner and sets his annual compensation.’

  • vaalbaragBEnglish
    1·
    1 year ago

    This is hilarious. Knicks citing article 24 as reason that the comissioner should not be the authority here. A couple things from that article:

    (d) The Commissioner shall have exclusive, full,complete, and final jurisdiction of any dispute involving two (2) ormore Members of the Association.

    (l) The Commissioner shall, wherever there is a rule forwhich no penalty is specifically fixed for violation thereof, have theauthority to fix such penalty as in the Commissioner’s judgment shallbe in the best interests of the Association. Where a situation ariseswhich is not covered in the Constitution and By-Laws, theCommissioner shall have the authority to make such decision,including the imposition of a penalty, as in his judgment shall be in thebest interests of the Association. The penalty that may be assessedunder the preceding two sentences may include, without limitation, afine, suspension, and/or the forfeiture or assignment of draft choices.No monetary penalty fixed under this provision shall exceed$2,500,000.

    Oh, what a coincidence! The made up number the Knicks are citing happens to be more than the comissioner can fine, and the Knicks are using that as a reason why the comissioner can’t rule here.

    But… there’s nothing in that article that gives an out for the parties to seek compensation outside of the comissioner. “Exclusive, full, complete, and final jurisdiction” doesn’t leave much wiggle room, unless they want to sue the NBA as well that the bylaws that the Knicks have agreed to are unfair.

    Also, the bit about the relationship between Tanenbaum and Silver… maybe if there’s undue influence there, the Knicks shouldn’t have voted for Tanenbaum to be chairman every election going back to 2017 (Tanenbaum’s been unanimously re-elected every time).