Former Lakers Slava Medvedenko auctions off NBA championship rings to help his native Ukraine


Playing alongside Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant, Slava Medvedenko won back-to-back championships with the Los Angeles Lakers in the early 2000s. He has the ability to show it.

but he took his Two championship rings auctioned This week “because I want to help my country,” the Ukrainian told CBS News.

Medvedenko said 100 percent of the proceeds from the auction will be donated to his Flying High Foundation “to help children and get them to safety from eastern Ukraine.”

some of the fiercest battles in ukraine war Occurred in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine.

After the war, Medvedenko said his foundation would “rebuild and restore school gymnasiums because 100 schools [have been] completely destroyed. ”

“Exercise is mental recovery,” he said.

While Medvedenko has no military experience, he is one of many who volunteered to fight to defend Ukraine because he dreams of a better future.

“I just realized I could die in an instant,” Medvedenko said of why he decided to give up his ring. “These rings can only be put in a safe and it doesn’t help me. I have to do something positive.”

Kobe talks to Medvedenko
FILE – Kobe Bryant speaks with Los Angeles Lakers’ Slava Medvedenko during the NBA season opener against the San Antonio Spurs on October 29, 2002 at Staples Center in Los Angeles, California.

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