Most owners of sports teams are wise enough to understand that their reputations will never be better than when their teams are winning. If they're fortunate enough to see that team capture a championship, they know that it's easy image rehabilitation. Just show some basic appreciation, sprinkle it around to everyone in the organization, and try not to say much aside from "We did it" and "Thank you." That way, the public will momentarily forget how you made your money off predatory mortgages or whatever.
James Dolan has chosen a different path. Since June, when the New York Knicks won their first title in 53 years, the owner has done his best to make the victory lap as unpleasant as possible for all involved. At the championship ceremony, in a juiceless and mercifully short speech, Dolan took swipes at New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and—for some reason—Knicks fans under the age of 53. He brought back notable creep Isiah Thomas, and appointed him to the team's board of directors. He scheduled a fundraiser for Republican gubernatorial candidate Bruce Blakeman right before a Knicks preseason game, and has sued Wired magazine for reporting on the invasive surveillance technology he uses at Madison Square Garden. He's also played hardball in contract talks with the very stars who won a championship. It's rare to have a title-winning team begin its subsequent season on such a sour note.
But wait, there's more: According to Joe Vardon of The Athletic, the Knicks' pregame ceremony ahead of Tuesday's season opener was a bit more ceremonial than it appeared. Team president Leon Rose opened a box to show off his sparkly championship ring, but nobody on the coaching staff did, because their boxes were empty. They didn't have rings yet, and it was still unclear who would actually receive one. From the article:
Team sources described the assistants’ reactions to not getting rings ranging from genuine anger to annoyance.
The Athletic received conflicting information about whether head coach Mike Brown received his ring on Tuesday and could not immediately verify if he got one.
“We are not disclosing anything about the rings,” an MSG Sports spokesperson said in a statement to The Athletic Thursday evening.
Vardon did mention that NBA championship teams don't always have all the rings ready by opening night; it varies year to year.
However, there's an added element to this story: A bunch of "longtime Madison Square Garden employees" and some people in the Knicks business operations department reportedly won't be getting rings at all. In September, some of those MSG employees received a congratulatory email saying that they would be getting a ring, and all they had to do was choose which of the two designs they preferred. "[Employee name], this one is on the house. MSG is issuing a complimentary employee championship ring," the email read, per Vardon. "The same jeweler, the same craftsmanship, personalized with your name. No cost to you." And here comes the grim punchline:
But the email was a fake-out, a phishing test Madison Square Garden sent to see if those employees would click, multiple team sources said.
Those who did click the link at the bottom of the message did not get to choose any jewelry; instead, they were forced to attend a mandatory cybersecurity class to help satisfy some of Dolan’s growing cybersecurity concerns, those team sources said.
There's no more punch left in the turd bowl.
