The first decade of the 21st century in the NBA has an unmistakable stamp: that of mighty Los Angeles Lakers of Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant. That team marked an era in American and world basketball.
Just as the current fan fever is for the Golden State Warriors of Stephen Curry and Draymond Green, at the time, there was no team more dominant than those Lakers who played 7 of the ten finals that were contested.
And while Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal were mainly responsible for 5 and 3 NBA titles for the Los Angeles franchise, respectively, there were players who offered them the necessary support to be able to display all their talent, such as Ukrainian Stanislav Slava Medvedenko, who is not going through a good moment.
Medvedenko gets rid of his most coveted NBA souvenirs
The conflict between Russia and Ukraine has shaken the world, and sports is not exempt from it. The clash may be over but the consequences will remain for a long time and Slava Medvedenko is aware of that, so he made a painful decision. He auctioned the two NBA championship rings he won with the Los Angeles Lakers to raise funds to support his country.
The two precious jewels were obtained in 2001 and 2002, when he was part of the team led by Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant. According to information from ESPN’sArash Markazi, the auction brought Medvedenko a total of $253,534 ($126,767 for each ring).
The same report states that the former Lakers and Atlanta Hawks power forward will channel these resources to rebuild schools and sports venues in Ukraine, in a clear support to the social revitalization of the country and in particular to the development of the country.
“Our country, they need a lot of money to fix the schools. Sports gyms are going to be last in the line to fix it… In this moment I just decided, ‘Why do I need these rings if they’re just sitting in my safe?. 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.”, stated Slava Medvedenko to ESPN (via Clutch Points).
Lakers’ 2000 NBA Championship Ring. (Harry How /Allsport)
