Lakers: Former LA Champ Sells Title Rings for Combined $250k Towards Ukraine Support

Lakers Champion Slava Medvedenko sells two of his championship rings in efforts to help his home country of Ukraine.

Winning a championship is every player’s dream. Whether they had a huge involvement in capturing that title or not, it’s always special in receiving that championship ring on ring night. However, sometimes a ring is no more than a piece of jewelry and that was the case for a former Lakers champion.

Former Los Angeles Lakers forward Slava Medvedenko’s two championship rings just sold for a combined $253,534 for charity. Medvedenko’s 2001 ring sold for $126,767 and his 2002 ring sold for $126,767 with 100% of the proceeds benefiting Ukraine relief efforts. pic.twitter.com/l6HrIEVne1

— Arash Markazi (@ArashMarkazi) August 6, 2022

The Former Lakers forward Slava Medvedenko sold two of his championship rings in effort to raise money that will help his home country of Ukraine in the war. 

The 43-year-old decided to make the decision once he witnessed first-hand the devastation of his country. ESPN explains the reasoning behind his decision.

Medvedenko said he decided to sell the rings after going to the roof of one of the tallest buildings in his Kyiv neighborhood and watching rockets launched by Russian forces streak through the night sky."In this moment I just decided, 'Why do I need these rings if they're just sitting in my safe?'"

This action is coming after Russia invaded Ukraine back in February of this year. Medvedenko is all in, in helping his own country even so far as to serve in Ukraine’s territorial defense forces during the war.

It’s clear that the Former Lakers champion has his sights on bigger things and doing whatever he can to help his home country. The 43-year-old participated in the Lakers championship teams in 2001 and 2002 in which he was teams with the late-great Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal.