James Dolan is firmly cemented as one of the most reviled owners in sports, but even knowing the depths of his awfulness, nobody was prepared for the story that broke on Thursday night about how atrociously he treated Knicks employees.
When a team wins a championship it’s customary for an organization to give at least some employees championship rings as a token of gratitude for being the support staff of the team. The Seahawks gave football staffers full Super Bowl rings, the Carolina Hurricanes gave every team employee a ring — Dolan and the Knicks? They tricked workers with a scam instead.
An email went out in September to every Madison Square Garden employee, which was obtained by The Athletic. In it, the team seemingly promised everyone a ring — going so far as to ask for their customization preferences.
“(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.”
Naturally, employees were excited. The problem was that this was a targeted scam, organized by Dolan. He asked for the emails to be sent to his workforce as a way to test which of his employees would fall for a phishing scam. It’s been reported that Dolan is growing increasingly paranoid about cybersecurity, which is fine — but trying to test this under the guise of giving his workers rings? That’s just gross.
Not only was there never a plan to give MSG employees rings, but anyone who did click on the link and tried to reserve their ring was instead put in compulsory cybersecurity training. When reached for comment the Knicks refused to discuss the ring situation with The Athletic.
Team employees work incredibly hard. Most are so consumed by their love of the job that, when the playoffs roll around — or, God willing, a finals run —they accept long hours, weekend work, and extra duties outside their typical responsibilities. This is why teams reward their staff with rings if a team finally breaks through, because while athletes are the ones responsible for winning, the organization as a whole would be nothing without the hundreds of people working behind the scenes, from marketing to equipment management, and beyond.
To make these people think they were getting noticed, and that something was being done for them — only to learn it was a rug pull plan to test them — it’s just disgusting. Shame on James Dolan for being such a paranoid, ludicrous cheapskate that he gleefully screw over his employees as a test.
