LOS ANGELES (AP) — Former Los Angeles Lakers player Slava Medvedenko is selling his two NBA championship rings to raise money for his native Ukraine.
Medvedenko was a power forward on the Lakers’ championship teams in 2001 and 2002, playing alongside Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal.
SCP Auctions is donating the entire final sale price of both rings to Medvedenko’s Fly High Foundation. Its aim is to support Ukrainian children by restoring the sports infrastructure of schools in the war-torn country and launching a network of social sports clubs.
“We want to restore the gymnasiums because the Russian army bombed more than a hundred schools,” he told The Associated Press by phone Sunday. “In our country, they need a lot of money to fix schools. Sports gyms will be the last in line to fix this. In Ukraine we have winter and children have to play inside.”
The auction will take place from Wednesday until August 5. The Laguna Niguel, Calif.-based company estimates both rings will raise at least $100,000.
Medvedenko said he decided to sell the rings after going to the roof of one of the tallest buildings in his Kyiv neighborhood and watching rockets launched by Russian forces pass through the night sky.
“At that point I just decided, ‘Why do I need these rings if they’re just sitting in my safe?’ ” Medvedenko said. “I just recognize that I can die. After that, I just say that I have to sell them to show leadership to the people, to help my Ukrainian people live better, to help the children.”
Medvedenko spoke from Warsaw, Poland, where he hosted a sold-out charity basketball game to raise money for Ukrainian refugees who crossed the border to escape the war.
“In Ukraine, you just feel like it’s war, rockets, air strikes. You’re so used to that kind of pressure,” he said. “As soon as you cross the border and see people living normal lives, it’s a different world.”
The 43-year-old is married and has two daughters, aged 16 and 11, and a 10-year-old son. After Russia invaded Ukraine in February, Medvedenko sent her children to live with their grandmother in another part of the country.
“After staying for a month and a half, they were calling me all the time and asking, ‘Dad, can we go home?’ We want to be with you and mom,’” he recalled.
Five months after the war, Medvedenko has reunited his family in Kyiv.
“We have air alerts almost every day. Sometimes it’s three or four times a day,” he said. “The children are very used to it. They play in our yard. They don’t even stop playing, they are used to it.”
Medvedenko has served in Ukraine’s territorial defense forces during the war.
“We were defending our neighborhood, doing checks and patrolling. I’m not the best soldier, I’m not the best shooter, but I can support them,” he said, adding that he was carrying an AK-47. “I shoot it a couple of times, not at people. I’m glad I didn’t have the chance to shoot someone. Our army did a great job defending Kyiv. I want to thank them.”
Medvedenko was a candidate for the Kyiv City Council in the 2020 elections. He was 11th on the electoral list and his party won only nine seats.
Beyond his wartime humanitarian efforts, Medvedenko has long-term goals to help his country.
“After the victory, we will certainly return to the issue of quality changes in sport,” he said. “Ten years in the United States, I saw how it works. I hope to have an ideal model in my mind to change Ukrainian sport.”
Medvedenko joined the Lakers in the 2000-01 season. He had his best season in 2003-04 when he started 38 games in place of injured Hall of Famer Karl Malone, averaging 8.3 points and 5.0 rebounds. Injuries later slowed him down and Medvedenko was traded to the Atlanta Hawks in 2006-07, his final season in the league.
Medvedenko said he texts with former Lakers Mark Madsen and Luke Walton. The team has sent sports equipment for use in Ukraine.
“The Lakers family always helps me,” he said. “The Lakers are always in my heart.”
