Update, Oct. 23: After a day of backlash, MSG reversed its no-comment stance. A spokesperson, in a statement shared by Newsday's Steve Popper, called using the rings as phishing bait an "unfortunate mistake" (Heavy). The company said the test followed a recent hack and extortion that began with an employee login and password stolen in a similar phishing attack. MSG also said it is giving more than 275 rings and pieces of jewelry, worth more than $3.7 million, to players, coaches, employees and others in the Knicks family. It did not say how many go to employees or when the rest will be handed out. A league source said assistants will get their rings shortly and that 275 rings was always the plan (NY Post). Nothing MSG said contradicts The Athletic's report that many longtime employees won't get one.

James Dolan finally won a title, and within four months he turned the trophy into a trap. In late September, a long list of Madison Square Garden employees got an email telling them their complimentary championship ring was ready, according to The Athletic's reporting. It came with a graphic of two designs, offered personalization with their name, and promised no cost.

It was a phishing test. Team sources told The Athletic the exercise grew out of Dolan's own concerns about cybersecurity. Staffers who clicked didn't pick a ring. Per The Mirror's write-up, they were routed into mandatory security training instead.

The real news is what the email was standing in for. Many longtime MSG employees, including some in the Knicks' business operations, will not get rings at all, team sources told The Athletic. MSG Sports initially told The Athletic it was not disclosing anything about the rings.

On banner night, Oct. 20, the assistant coaches were handed black ring boxes with nothing inside, according to The Athletic's Joe Vardon, citing seven league sources. They were told the rings would come eventually. The Athletic got conflicting accounts of whether head coach Mike Brown got his. The ceremony aired on NBC and Peacock to 7.7 million viewers, peaking at 9.1 million.

In fairness, delayed rings for assistants aren't unheard of. Oklahoma City's assistants and some executives didn't get theirs on opening night last season, though Cleveland (2016) and the Lakers (2020) handed them out on banner night.

The players' pieces, by Jason of Beverly Hills, carry roughly 800 diamonds and sapphires and are reportedly valued around $250,000 each. The same jeweler is selling 200 fan replicas at $19,995 apiece. In April, Dolan told players their wives and significant others would get rings if they won. Fans can buy one. Many of the people who sold the tickets can't get one.

It lands after a summer in which Dolan declared it would be "suicidal" to cross the second apron, a mandate The Athletic's Fred Katz reported blindsided his own front office. The Knicks punted on the first round of the draft to save money.

Dolan has reason to be jumpy. On June 5, 2026, the extortion crew ShinyHunters broke into MSG Entertainment, listed the company on June 12, and dumped roughly 45GB of data on June 16 after MSG let a June 15 ransom deadline pass. The way in wasn't even an email: a ShinyHunters member told 404 Media they phoned an employee and talked them through a password reset on Microsoft Entra. MSG's own account, given Oct. 23, is that the attacker used credentials obtained through phishing.