Knicks Plan to Give 275 Employees NBA Championship Rings After Phishing Email 'Mistake'

In the wake of a report from The Athletic's Joe Vardon detailing a phishing test in the form of an email sent to various  Madison Square Garden employees about receiving a 2025-26 NBA championship ring from the New York Knicks, the club is now planning to give out rings.

Per Stefan Bondy of the New York Post, the Knicks are planning to give 275 championship rings to members of the organization after acknowledging the "unfortunate mistake" of using the emails as a simulation of a phishing test.

"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," an MSG spokesman told Bondy. "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."

According to Vardon's report, the Knicks were not planning to give out rings to "many longtime" MSG employees. The group included some who work in the business operations department for the Knicks.

Vardon also included text of the phishing email sent by the Knicks to various MSG employees:

"Congratulations, your Employee Championship Ring is here," the email read.

"(Employee name), this one is on the house. MSG is issuing a complimentary employee championship ring. The same jeweler, the same craftsmanship, personalized with your name. No cost to you.

"There are two designs to choose from: Championship Gold and Garden Classic. Reserve the one you want below."

Vardon noted the email was designed to be a "fake-out" and people who clicked the link were "forced to attend a mandatory cybersecurity class" because Knicks governor James Dolan had growing concerns about cybersecurity.

The Knicks handed out rings to celebrate their victory in the 2026 NBA Finals on Tuesday prior to their season-opening game against the Philadelphia 76ers.

However, some of the boxes given out to assistant coaches on head coach Mike Brown's staff did not open theirs to show off the ring because the box was empty.

Vardon noted assistants learned earlier in the day they would not be receiving their rings on Tuesday.

According to Bondy, top Knicks assistant coaches Chris Jent, Rick Brunson and Brendan O'Connor are expected to receive their rings "shortly" and the other assistants will "eventually" get theirs.

The MSG spokesman told Bondy the 275 rings will go to players, coaches, employees and other members of the Knicks family. The combined value of all the rings will total more than $3.7 million.

"There is a great deal of misinformation regarding the championship rings," MSG said in a statement. "The plan has always been to distribute more than 275 rings and jewelry to the people in the organization who were part of last season's success. As is common with many teams, the players were always supposed to get their rings as part of the opening night ceremony and then everyone else will receive theirs in about 4-6 weeks. Regarding the phishing email, the process of securing and reminding our employees to protect our IP was not a mistake but the choice to use the ring to do so was a mistake and we apologize to our employees and the fans. Winning the championship was a great moment for all New Yorkers. Those who choose to focus on the negative are missing the joy that comes with the team's accomplishment."

All of the players who were on the Knicks roster and in attendance at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday got their rings. Team president Leon Rose and executive vice president - senior basketball advisor William Wesley also received theirs during the pregame ceremony.