Former basketball player for the LA Lakers, Slava Medvedenko, has auctioned two of his championship rings in support of his home country, Ukraine.
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Slava said he made the decision to sell his rings after he watched the flying Russian rockets from the rooftop of his home.
“In this moment, I just decided, ‘Why do I need these rings if they’re just sitting in my safe?’” Slava said.
“I just recognize I can die. After that, I just say I have to sell them to show people leadership, to help my Ukrainian people to live better, to help kids” he added.
“We want to restore gyms because the Russian army bombed more than a hundred schools,” Slava continued.
“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”, he said.
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The Ukrainian native, had also previously played for the Atlanta Hawks.
While he was with the Lakers, he played six seasons, including their 2000-01 and 2001-02 championship teams which featured the likes of late Kobe Bryant and Shaq O’Neal.
He had recorded an average of 5.3 points, 2.8 rebounds, 0.5 assists, and 0.2 blocks in seven seasons, six with the Lakers and the last with the Atlanta Hawks.
Slava had earlier sent his children to live with their grandmother while he armed himself in defence of Ukraine.
The Russian invasion into Ukraine took place on February 24.
Over 14,000 fatalities have been recorded so far.
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