{"id":1108,"section":"sports","section_label":"Sports","url":"https://www.brokenews.co/sports/1108","headline":"Knicks admit championship ring email was a phishing test, then reverse course","dek":"After backlash over the scheme, the team says it will hand out more than 275 real rings worth $3.7 million.","body":"Madison Square Garden Sports, which owns the Knicks, confirmed this week that an email offering employees a personalized championship ring was actually bait in a simulated phishing attack. A spokesperson said the email was sent to the corporate team \"as a simulation of a phishing attack designed to strengthen our security against hackers.\"\n\nThe admission followed a report from The Athletic detailing the September email, which went to Madison Square Garden employees and asked some who clicked the link to attend a cybersecurity class instead of getting a ring. Assistant coaches were caught up in the fallout too, receiving empty ring boxes during the team's opening-night title ceremony this week rather than their actual rings.\n\nThe Knicks have since called the phishing test an \"unfortunate mistake\" and announced a reversal: more than 275 rings will go out to players, coaches, employees and other members of the Knicks family, at a reported cost of $3.7 million. A league source said assistant coaches will get their real rings shortly, insisting the distribution of 275 rings was the plan all along.","published_at":"2026-10-23T21:20:16.299438+00:00","source_count":6,"written_from":[{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"Knicks ownership says it used employee championship rings email as phishing bait","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/knicks-ownership-says-used-employee-205107485.html"},{"outlet":"The Athletic","publisher":"The Athletic","title":"Knicks call championship ring phishing test with employees 'unfortunate mistake'","url":"https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7718064/2026/10/23/knicks-championship-ring-phishing-test-statement/"},{"outlet":"New York Post","publisher":"New York Post","title":"Knicks reveal $3.7 million plan for employee championship rings after coming under fire for phishing email ‘mistake’","url":"https://nypost.com/2026/10/23/sports/knicks-reveal-3-7-million-plan-for-employee-rings-after-phishing-email-mistake/"},{"outlet":"ESPN","publisher":"ESPN","title":"Report: Knicks delayed coaching rings, tempted staffers with phishing offer","url":"https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/50258240/report-knicks-coaches-get-empty-ring-boxes-staff-phished"},{"outlet":"CBS Sports","publisher":"CBS Sports","title":"Knicks reportedly duped employees with championship ring email that was actually a phishing test","url":"https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/knicks-duped-employees-championship-ring-email-phishing-test/"},{"outlet":"SB Nation","publisher":"SB Nation","title":"James Dolan scammed Knicks employees with phony championship ring offer","url":"https://www.sbnation.com/nba/1133414/james-dolan-knicks-employees-championship-ring-nba"}],"more_coverage":[{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"Knicks reportedly turned fake championship ring offers into cybersecurity lesson for employees","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/nba/article/knicks-reportedly-turned-fake-championship-ring-offers-into-cybersecurity-lesson-for-employees-032951440.html"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"Knicks’ James Dolan used fake scam email to employees about championship rings to ‘ease cybersecurity concerns’","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/knicks-james-dolan-used-fake-041329298.html"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"Knicks tricked employees with championship ring phishing test","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/knicks-tricked-employees-championship-ring-042119601.html"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"Knicks 'phishing' test tricked employees who thought rings were offered: Report","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/knicks-phishing-test-tricked-employees-113549303.html"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"James Dolan scammed Knicks employees with phony championship ring offer","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/james-dolan-scammed-knicks-employees-121136841.html"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"Knicks assistants didn't get rings (yet), just empty boxes on opening night: Report","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/knicks-assistants-didnt-rings-yet-120506212.html"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"Knicks Staffers Got a Phishing Email That Made It Seem Like They’d Get Championship Rings: Report","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/knicks-staffers-got-phishing-email-151255683.html"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"NY Knicks Coaches Presented With Empty Boxes as Players Got Championship Rings at Opening Night Ceremony","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/ny-knicks-coaches-presented-empty-151638877.html"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"Knicks employees reportedly offered championship rings in phishing test email","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/knicks-employees-reportedly-offered-championship-122957678.html"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"‘You have to be a truly terrible person to do this’: Knicks owner sparks outrage with ‘disgusting’ move against employees","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/truly-terrible-person-knicks-owner-181210129.html"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"Knicks release statement saying they are gifting 275-plus championship rings, etc. to players, coaches, employees, others","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/knicks-release-statement-saying-gifting-190959167.html"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"Knicks call plan to use fake championship rings as employee phishing test 'an unfortunate mistake,' will issue rings to employees","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/nba/article/knicks-call-plan-to-use-fake-championship-rings-as-employee-phishing-test-an-unfortunate-mistake-will-issue-rings-to-employees-195704256.html"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"Knicks say using championship rings in an email to fool employees was an 'unfortunate mistake'","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/knicks-using-championship-rings-email-204531750.html"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"Knicks admit ‘unfortunate mistake’ before sharing plans for giving out championship rings","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/knicks-admit-unfortunate-mistake-sharing-212730240.html"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"Knicks’ $3.7 million plan for employee championship rings revealed","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/knicks-3-7-million-plan-181454205.html"}],"image":null,"embed":null,"license":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/","attribution":"Analysis data is licensed CC BY 4.0. Credit brokenews and link to the story page you took it from. Source headlines, story titles taken from a source headline, and quoted passages remain the property of their publishers and are quoted for comparison, not licensed onward.","terms":"https://www.brokenews.co/about#reuse"}