NBA

Ex-Timberwolves Staffer Charged With Stealing ‘Stategic NBA Info’ on Hard Drive

James Foglio Sports Editor

Updated21 Mar 2024

Former Minnesota Timberwolves staff member Somak Sarkar has been fired, arrested, and charged with felony third-degree burglary for allegedly stealing thousands of internal files, including “strategic NBA information,” from a team executive, according to a criminal complaint filed Wednesday.

Per Paul Walsh of the Star Tribune, Sarkar was accused of stealing strategic information from the hard drive of the head of the team’s analytics department.

Sarkar was arrested on Monday and charged in Hennepin County District Court. He remains jailed in lieu of $40,000 bail and is scheduled for a court appearance on Thursday afternoon.

NEWS: A Timberwolves employee was fired, arrested and charged with felony third-degree burglary for allegedly stealing thousands of internal files, according to court records obtained by ESPN. A source said that the team would not pursue criminal charges. https://t.co/H3GCjyz3Cn

— Baxter Holmes (@Baxter) March 20, 2024

Sachin Gupta, the head of Minnesota’s analytics department, had his work hard drive stolen from his Target Center office last month, per the criminal complaint.

As head of the analytics department, Gupta had proprietary data in his possession that the Wolves conceal from other teams. This includes information about the salary cap, players’ earnings, contracts, and trade negotiations.

When Gupta returned to work on Feb. 5, the hard drive was missing. Surveillance footage reviewed by security revealed that Sarkar had twice entered Gupta’s office on Feb. 3 “after looking to see if anyone could see him,” the complaint says. “He then left.”

Ex-Minnesota Timberwolves coaching analyst Somak Sarkar copied about 5,700 files from hard drive

When Gupta recovered his hard drive a week later, it was found that “roughly 5,700 files were copied that held employment and player contracts, ‘as well as strategic NBA information,'” per Walsh.

According to the complaint, the hard drive also contained Gupta’s tax returns and other financial information, along with his login and passwords from a password management app. The Timberwolves fired Sarkar after the team learned of the hard drive’s disappearance.

Sarkar, 33, told police after his arrest that as a member of Minnesota’s coaching staff, he took Gupta’s hard drive to “put some stuff on it” but forgot to return it.

Somak Sarkar, an employee of the Minnesota Timberwolves, was fired and arrested on charges of third-degree burglary, per @baxter

He is accused of taking several internal files, including “strategic NBA information,” from a team executive

(Via https://t.co/5lhjJI8P83) pic.twitter.com/ThNhQOBTCX

— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) March 20, 2024

The police executed a search warrant at Sarkar’s apartment. Investigators uncovered several hard drives, a computer, three tablets, and multiple USB drives, the complaint stated. Police said one of the devices “contained all the information from [Gupta’s] hard drive.”

In response to the investigation, the Timberwolves said in a statement that they are “aware of these allegations and will have no further comment as it is an ongoing legal matter.”

Sarkar joined the Timberwolves in August 2021. He previously worked in other analytics positions with the New York Knicks and New Orleans Pelicans. He also worked as a basketball operations intern for the Houston Rockets from October 2012 to June 2013.

Sarkar has been in NBA front offices since his internship with Houston. This was before he graduated in 2013 from Rice University, per the Texas school’s Department of Sports Management.

After the team fired Gersson Rosas in September 2021, Gupta became interim head of basketball operations. The Timberwolves then chose Tim Connelly from the Denver Nuggets in May 2022 to succeed Rosas.

Gupta has remained with the Wolves as executive vice president, leading the analytics department under Connelly.