Former Washington Wizards point guard Gilbert Arenas had an injury-affected career and was never able to fulfill his potential. A 3-time All-Star Arenas retired without a championship to his name but averaged more than 20 points per game in 552 NBA matches. Speaking in an interview with the DjVlad YouTube channel, Arenas revealed that he still was an owner of multiple rings. As it turns out, NBA players who have won a championship can get exact duplicates made for “friends and family.” The rings end up costing around $20-22k. Due to this, Arenas owns all 5 of Kobe Bryant’s championship rings that he won with the LA Lakers.
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Arenas was quizzed about Kwame Brown, and how the highly-rated Charlotte Hornets player finished his career without a ring. Arenas claimed that a range of top players do not win the championship, which included himself. This led to the 2001 second-round draft pick to talk about how one can always buy a ring off a player who had actually won it.
Gilbert Arenas reveals he owns all 5 of Kobe Bryant’s Championship Rings
As it turns out, Arenas does not actually own the exact rings that Kobe won. Instead, players can get exact copies made by the NBA for their friends and family. Arenas claimed that while he himself might have never won the championship, he still had 5 rings. The former point guard also talked about how the value of the rings depended on the name that was inscribed on them:
“Even with me, when I talk about players, they’re gonna say, well how many rings did you win? None, but I can buy them. For around $20-22k, for family and friends, it’s about $20k. Okay, so the value is not you buying it. The value is the name. All rings have to have a last name. I get okayed from Kobe to make me the same ring. You make the ring.”
Arenas then went on to reveal how he owned all 5 of Kobe Bryant’s rings. As it turns out, the now 41-year-old bought the rings from the later Lakers legend for around $20k each.
NBA Championship jewelry has a huge global market
As Arenas also revealed, NBA Championship jewelry is not actually owned by Championship winners. A simple search on the internet reveals a plethora of jewelry sellers who create replicas.
While getting your hands on an original ring is still quite difficult, they regularly end up selling for much more than $20k. Bryant’s own parents had been said to have sold one of his Championship rings for more than $200k.
Current NBA champions Denver Nuggets are also set to receive their championship rings soon. While it might be possible to buy them off other players, there is obviously a huge difference between winning one and owning one.
