The NBA title ring

Medals normally are given to winners in athletic tournaments, but professional sports had adopted to rewarding league titlists with championship rings.  Also known as premiership rings, these are the most valuable and prestigious awards given to winning teams that include players, coaches and related staff.

The NBA first introduced this practice in 1947 and the three other major league sports followed the practice.

The average market price for an NBA ring is between $15,000 to $20,000 but considering the materials and precious stones used, it could quadruple in value.  Value of each ring is also determined on the winning team and the popularity of the player having it.  Think of Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant and LeBron James.  Any memorabilia associated with these players will be worth a fortune. 

The team’s performance for the season will also factor into its value.  It would be safe to assume that title rings from the Boston Celtics, LA Lakers and the Chicago Bulls have people willing to shell out a fortune for these championship memorabilias.

Rings especially won in the 80s and 90s are very expensive because these games had been etched on the hearts and minds of fans.   These matches had made their mark through the years and will contribute to its value. 

The Golden State Warriors, Miami Heat, San Antonio Spurs and perhaps the two other Texas teams (Houston and Dallas) can also command premium value.

Silver and gold are used for these masterpieces with a total of 460 precious gems and diamonds on average inlaid on each ring.  Also known as the King of Bling, one of America’s most successful jeweler Jason Arasheben had been doing these championship NBA rings since 2009.

The 2019 Toronto Raptors so far had the biggest championship bling in league history with the team paying a reported $100,000 each.  On the center of the ring is the Larry O’Brien trophy accompanied by the CN Tower backgrounded by the Toronto skyline.  Each ring has 640 gems accented with hand cut diamonds.  On the back, it has 74 diamonds representing their regular season wins.

For different reasons, it is not uncommon for players to sell off their championship rings and several of them had done so.

Lately, former Laker forward Slava Medvedenko auctioned off his 2001 and 2002 title rings and it sold for $216,767 each.  The whole proceeds of the sale went to Medvedenko’s Fly High Foundation which supports Ukranian children affected by the war and to raise funds for the military.

Horace Grant sold his rings from the Chicago Bulls’ first three-peat to charity years ago.  Last week, it collectively sold for $297,000.  Grant was teammate with Medvedenko with the Lakers when they won the 2001 league title and his fourth championship ring was expected to sell at $40,000.

Both are not broke and they sold their rings for a purpose.  Grant is special advisor to Bulls COO Michael Reinsdorf while Medvedenko joined politics and is presently serving the Ukranian military with his wife.