Former Lakers forward Slava Medvedenko is auctioning off both of his LA championship rings to help his home country of Ukraine.
For Slava Medvedenko, helping his home country is more important than his Lakers championship glory days right now. The forward, who was part of both the 2009 and 2010 Lakers championship teams, is auctioning off his championship rings to help raise money for his homeland of Ukraine.
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On Sunday, The Athletic reported Medvedenko was officially auctioning off his rings.
“Former Lakers forward Slava Medvedenko is auctioning off his 2001 and 2002 NBA championship rings, with the entire final sale price going toward his foundation to support Ukrainian children, the Associated Press reported.”
The Athletic noted that Slava had already auctioned off jerseys, sneakers, and t-shirts from his playing days to support the Urkainian war effort against Russia.
Medvedenko explained what he plans on putting some of the proceeds towards.
“We want to restore gyms because the Russian army bombed more than a hundred schools. 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.”
The Athletic’s Bill Oram had previously reported this year that Medvedenko was planning on auctioning off the rings and was seeking assistance from the Lakers.
Oram reported that Lakers executive Linda Rambis stated the franchise would be willing to replace the rings if Medvedenko did indeed sell them.
Slava played 249 games in six seasons for the Lakers and averaged 5.3 points per game and 2.8 rebounds per game. He spent his last season in the NBA as a member of the Atlanta Hawks.