“Ring orders, designs, and measurements can take time, and not every coaching staff for every defending champion gets its rings on ring night… The Knicks assistants were told they would receive championship rings eventually, but many longtime employees at Madison Square Garden, including some who work in the Knicks’ business operations, will not receive rings at all, team sources told The Athletic,” Vardon wrote.
MSG employee hopes were raised “at the end of September when the Knicks sent an email to a long list of employees, which gave recipients a first glimpse at their would-be championship rings,” Vardon wrote. The email included “a graphic of two differently styled rings” that the lucky employees could supposedly choose from, the article said.
“(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,” the email said. “There are two designs to choose from: Championship Gold and Garden Classic. Reserve the one you want below.”
Vardon wrote that “multiple team sources” confirmed the email was a phishing test. It’s not clear how many employees clicked the link, and it wasn’t immediately clear how many employees will eventually get some type of championship ring.
We contacted the Madison Square Garden Sports organization with these questions and received a statement after this article was published. The statement called the phishing test “an unfortunate mistake,” and detailed plans to give rings to staff.
MSG’s statement said the company “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.”
As for the ring-distribution plan, MSG said it “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, in recognition of their contributions and celebrating this achievement.”
This article was updated with MSG’s statement.
