The vibes inside Madison Square Garden were impeccable on ring night, with the first sign in 53 years going up to the rafters, a sudden look at the 2025 NBA Cup sign, Jalen Brunson getting some well-deserved love, OG Anunoby getting the second-biggest ovation (the historic tip-ins will do this), and the crowd barking at the coach singing “Who has an odd love for Mike Brown.” Even the loss to the 76ers doesn’t do much to spoil his mind.
But Sir James Dolan is trying. Dolan still hasn’t revealed the rings to the Knicks assistant coach, who took empty boxes of rings to the ceremony and didn’t open them, a story broken by Joe Varden at The Athletic. It’s also unclear whether head coach Mike Brown got his ring.
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Seven league sources, all speaking on the condition of anonymity so they could speak freely about the sensitive matter, said the Knicks assistant coach did not get the rings on the banner night. Two of those sources told Athletic assistants that they had learned earlier Tuesday that they were getting their rings that evening, which is not surprising since they had not yet been fitted for one and the boxes were without their rings late after the ceremony.
Those coaches are pissed off to varying degrees – and they have every right. It’s also worth noting that assistant coaches don’t always have their rings on the night ring – the Thunder assistants didn’t last year. And most of the teams, they take the rings that night, but at least they will have them. Sometimes.
It’s a tradition with football teams that most of the team’s staff also own rings – you know the faces, like the crew here and there, but also the people who are in the business side of the operation. Usually, the higher up the staff, those rings don’t all have 80+ diamonds and all the bangs, but they have real, meaningful rings.
Lyons at No. With the Knicks, they not only didn’t get the rings – they got a phishing ring scam.
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Those Madison Square Garden workers got their hope in late September when the Knicks sent an email to a long list of employees that gave the recipients their first look at what would be championship rings. Above the inscription, a copy of which Athleticus obtained, was a graphic of two different rings expressed…
But the email was fake, a phishing test sent to Madison Square Garden to see if employees would click on it, multiple sources said.
Clicking on a link in a phishing scam means those employees are going to a cybersecurity class. Macte!
Viewers of the nightly ring ceremonies on NBC and Peacock may also have noticed that NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, who usually addresses the crowd and shakes the players’ hands as they receive their rings, did neither. That’s just the middle of the arc between Dolan and Argentum.
It was still a special night in the ring in New York, but only Dolan could find a way to brighten up the event a little to save a few bucks.