Former Laker Slava Medvedenko selling NBA championship rings to help Ukraine
Former Laker Slava Medvedenko is putting his two NBA championship rings on the market to help better the lives of Ukrainian children.
Medvedenko, who is 43-years-old and was born in Karapyshi, Ukraine, was mostly a reserve player during his six seasons playing with the Lakers from 2000-06, but he is well remembered among the Laker faithful.
He helped the Purple and Gold win two championships during the franchise's three-peat title run that was led by the late great Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal.
SCP Auctions, a sports memorabilia auction company based out of Laguna Nigel, told The Associated Press it will donate all the money made from the auction to Medvedenko's Fly High Foundation.
The ultimate goal for Medvedenko is to repair sports infrastructure that has been destroyed by Russia's invasion of the war-torn country.
"We want to restore gyms because the Russian army bombed more than a hundred schools," he told The Associated Press by phone on Sunday. "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 auction runs from Wednesday through Aug. 5. The Laguna Niguel, California-based company estimates both rings will raise at least $100,000.
You can place a bid on the rings up for auction by heading over to SCP Auctions' website, which you can find here.