Former Los Angeles Lakers forward Slava Medvedenko successfully sold his two NBA championship rings to help his home country of Ukraine fight the war against Russia.
Two separate auctions for both of the rings won in 2001 and 2002 closed on Friday at SCP Auctions, both getting sold at $126,767 for a combined value of $253,534. All of the money is said to go directly to helping Ukraine in the war.
“At this moment, I just decided, ‘Why do I need these rings if they’re just sitting in my safe?'” Medvedenko said when enlisting the rings for sale. “I just recognize I can die. After that, I just say I have to sell them to show people leadership, to help my Ukrainian people to live better, to help kids.”
The Lakers organization has mentioned before that if Medvedenko sold his rings, they would give him two new ones.
Medvedenko started his professional path with Budivelnik Kyiv in 1997. Before joining the Lakers in 2000, he played in Ukraine and Lithuania.
The Ukrainian forward spent six years with the team and had his best season in 2003-04 when he started 38 games in place of injured Hall of Famer Karl Malone averaging 8.3 points and 5.0 rebounds.