The NBA season has only just begun, but the New York Knicks are already embroiled in a PR nightmare after an email to staff to get a championship ring turned out to be an IT phishing test.
On Tuesday, the defending champion Knicks played their first home game at Madison Square Garden since beating the San Antonio Spurs for their first NBA Finals win since the 1970s. As is custom, the first home game after a championship is when the team and fans get to watch the banner raised to the rafters and the presentation of their brand-new championship rings.
According to reporting from The Athletic, based on conversations with seven league sources who spoke on condition of anonymity, many of the ring boxes handed out to coaching staff were empty. In fact, The Athletic could not even confirm whether head coach Mike Brown received his ring, receiving only this brief reply from a MSG Sports spokesperson: "We are not disclosing anything about the rings."
It's possible, of course, that delays in the crafting of the rings or in the fitting of them necessitated the empty box move. Plus, there is precedent for coaching staff and front-office personnel having to wait longer for their rings.
However, "many longtime employees at Madison Square Garden, including some who work in the Knicks’ business operations, will not receive rings at all," according to the insider sources who agreed to speak with The Athletic. Which is unusual, as the majority of team employees typically receive some form of ring in commemoration of the team's winning season.
What's made the internet upset is a controversial IT trick played on the Madison Square Garden employees expecting a ring. According to The Athletic, in September, MSG staff received an email with the opening line "Congratulations, your Employee Championship Ring is here," followed by a prompt to choose their preferred style: Championship Gold or Garden Classic. Clicking through that link, however, did not bring employees to a jeweler's website.
"Those who did click the link at the bottom of the message did not get to choose any jewelry; instead, they were forced to attend a mandatory cybersecurity class to help satisfy some of Dolan’s growing cybersecurity concerns," reported The Athletic.
Needless to say, when the internet caught wind of this, the roasting was severe and merciless.
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It seems like the backlash worked. In a statement to the New York Post, an MSG spokesperson acknowledged that using the promise of a ring for an IT test was "a mistake." In addition, the spokesperson revealed that the Knicks' top assistant coaches will get their rings shortly.
"The company is gifting more than 275 championship rings and jewelry to players, coaches, employees, and other members of the Knicks family, worth more than $3.7 million," the spokesperson told the Post.