The NBA will hold an arbitration hearing during the week of July 21 for commissioner Adam Silver to settle the long-running legal dispute between the Toronto Raptors and New York Knicks, according to a court filing Saturday in New York that was obtained by ESPN.

That hearing will fall almost two years after the Knicks sued the Raptors in August 2023, alleging the theft of thousands of confidential files. And it will come almost a year after the New York judge overseeing the case ruled in June 2024 that Silver should resolve the dispute.

From the start, the Raptors asked for Silver to step in, but the Knicks, who sought more than $10 million in damages, expressed concerns about Silver's ability to remain impartial, arguing that he should stay on the sidelines partly because of his close relationship with Raptors governor Larry Tanenbaum, who also is chairman of the NBA board of governors.

The Knicks, Raptors and NBA didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

In the initial complaint, the Knicks alleged that the Raptors poached Ikechukwu Azotam, who worked for New York from 2020 to 2023, and ordered him to provide a trove of internal information after Toronto began recruiting him in the summer of 2023. The Knicks argued that this effort was geared toward giving the Raptors a competitive advantage.

The Knicks alleged that Azotam -- who worked for the Knicks as an assistant video coordinator, then as a director of video/analytics/player development assistant -- sent the Raptors thousands of confidential files, including play frequency reports, a prep book for the 2022-23 season, video scouting files and opposition research.

The Knicks also alleged that Azotam did so at the request of the Raptors, whom they said were trying to "organize, plan, and structure the new coaching and video operations staff," the August 2023 complaint stated.

The Raptors, Azotam, Toronto head coach Darko Rajaković, player development coach Noah Lewis and 10 "unknown" employees were listed as defendants in the lawsuit.

In an October 2023 court filing, the Raptors called the Knicks' allegations "baseless" and a "public relations stunt" while asking for Silver to step in. The Raptors also argued that the "alleged 'theft of data' involved little more than publicly available information compiled through public sources readily accessible to all NBA Members."

The lawsuit itself marks a rare instance of one professional team suing another. The only other instance ESPN research could uncover involving two NBA teams was a legal battle between the Knicks and Nets in 1977 over the Nets' attempts to move from Long Island to New Jersey.

The lawsuit between the Knicks and Raptors appears to be the first between two NBA teams that centers on basketball-related information.