A Madison Square Garden spokesperson admitted fault that employees in Knicks business operations and at the arena received a phishing email posing as an opportunity to claim an NBA championship ring, calling the incident "an unfortunate mistake."
The Athletic reported Thursday that some employees received an email last month saying "your Employee Championship Ring is here" that said they could choose from a pair of options at "no cost to you."
When the employees clicked on a link in the email, The Athletic reported, they were informed that they had failed a phishing test and would have to attend a mandatory cybersecurity class.
"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," the MSG spokesman said in a statement Friday. "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 spokesman noted that the company is giving more than 275 championship rings and jewelry to players, coaches and employees, among others, valuing the total at more than $3.7 million.
Along with the phishing email, The Athletic reported that Knicks assistant coaches did not receive their championship rings during Tuesday's title ceremony ahead of the season opener and were instead handed empty boxes, in part because they had not yet been fitted for the rings. A source confirmed to ESPN that several Knicks coaches did not receive rings.
The coaches' reaction to the delayed rings ranged from annoyance to anger, according to The Athletic. A delay in some rings being handed out also occurred for the Oklahoma City Thunder after their 2025 title, The Athletic noted.
The Knicks ended a 53-year championship drought when they defeated the San Antonio Spurs in last season's NBA Finals. On Tuesday, the team had not one but two new banners in the rafters, as one was also added to honor the Knicks' win in the NBA Cup during the 2025-26 season.