By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Former NBA champion with the Los Angeles Lakers Slava Medevedenko is auctioning his two championship rings to help his country that is under invasion by Russia. Medvedenko, a forward, was a member of the Lakers team that won back-to-back titles in 2001 and 2002.
The auction will be held by SCP auctions.
As Medvedenko mentioned in the Instagram post he announced the auction, his goal is to raise funds for the support of Ukrainian children who have been affected by the war and the restoration of sports infrastructure and equipment of schools that were destroyed as a result of the invasion.
“They are very valuable to me, but for me, the victory of Ukraine and the future of Ukrainian children are more important,” Medevenko wrote on Instagram.
Medvedenko’s initial goal was to raise at least $50,000 and that was the starting point of the auction. It’s estimated that both of his rings can be sold for at least twice this number.
“We want to restore gyms because the Russian army bombed more than a hundred schools,” Medevedenko said to The Associated Press. “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 Ukraine, we have winter and kids need to play inside.”
Medvedenko that there was a very specific moment that moved him towards putting his most prestigious trophies for sale. It was when he stood at the top of a building in Kyiv and saw Russian rockets blazing in the sky.
“At this moment I just decided, ‘Why do I need these rings if they’re just sitting in my safe?'” Medvedenko said. “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.”
Medvedenko played for the Lakers from 2000 to 2006. He spent 2006-2007 with the Atlanta Hawks.