The New York Knicks went on one of the more euphoric championships in NBA history earlier this year. It was an unforgettable playoff run that ended a 53-year title drought. But a lot of the news surrounding the team since then has had a different tone.
Whether it’s been owner James Dolan’s hard-line stance against going into the second apron costing the team key reserve Mitchell Robinson or contentious extension negotiations with multiple starters getting tabled before the season, the vibes surrounding New York’s championship defense are significantly more dour than they were even a few months ago.
And, on Thursday, The Athletic reported that the issues haven’t just been confined to the roster.
While Knicks players received their championship rings on Tuesday before their season-opening loss to the Philadelphia 76ers, the rest of the organization appears to still be waiting. Knicks assistant coaches reportedly did not receive their rings on Tuesday night despite being handed (apparently empty) boxes during the ring ceremony. While the assistants’ reactions to not getting their rings reportedly ranged “from genuine anger to annoyance,” The Athletic noted that not all assistant coaching staffs, including last year’s Oklahoma City Thunder, get their rings on opening night.
However, in an atypical move by NBA standards, many longtime Madison Square Garden employees reportedly will not receive a championship ring at all. While the most expensive and ornate championship rings tend to be reserved for the players, most employees of NBA teams receive less expensive rings when their team wins a title. The New York Post reported Friday that the plan is to distribute a total of 275 championship rings “to players, coaches, employees and other members of the Knicks family, worth more than $3.7 million.”
And yet, as a means of testing the organization’s cybersecurity, Madison Square Garden employees received an email in September asking them to reserve their preferred ring style. The email, however, was reportedly a phishing test. Employees who clicked on the link were forced to attend a mandatory cybersecurity class “to help satisfy some of Dolan’s growing cybersecurity concerns.” It is not clear how many of the employees who received this email will eventually be awarded a championship ring.
On Friday, an MSG spokesperson called the decision “an unfortunate mistake” in a statement to the New York Post:
“The company had previously sent out an email to its corporate team as a simulation of a phishing attack designed to strengthen our security against hackers. MSG was recently hacked and extorted using an employee login and password obtained through a similar phishing attack. Using the rings as a lure to gain employees attention was an unfortunate mistake.”
The Knicks kicked off their title defense with a loss to LeBron James and the 76ers, and while the season is only just getting underway, much of the goodwill that followed last spring’s magical run appears to have dissipated. Though off-court controversies have been minimal since Leon Rose was hired to run the team, the Knicks are seemingly courting a pretty avoidable one in how they’ve handled the dispersal of their championship rings.