Los Angeles Lakers had to wait ten years for a title and after winning the 2019-20 season, they were handed their championship rings during the opening night of the new campaign. The ring apparently pays tribute to their legend Kobe Bryant among many other things and has already been branded as the most valuable NBA Championship ring in history.
Jason Arasheben, a prominent jeweller in Beverly Hills was entrusted with the task of designing the rings and had to undergo a race against time to deliver them. He only had a month to design the rings as opposed to the three-four months off-season period between two campaigns.
The jeweler has designed five championship rings for the franchise in the past with the Lakers being a prominent force in the first decade of the millenium. This time around, he has incorporated several ‘easter eggs’ with the ring to mark the historical campaign.
To honour the 95 days that the team spent in the Orlando bubble for the final stages of the league and playoffs, the purple L on the ring which comprises of 17 purple amethyst stones weigh 0.95 carats each. Moreover, the 17 stones used denotes the number of championsips the franchise have won so far.
The numbers don’t end there, the yellow diamonds on the ring weigh 0.52 carats each to match the 52 wins the Lakers registered during the regular season. Moreover, Lakers’ phrase “Leave A Leagacy” has been etched onto the ring in the handwriting of LeBron James.
The ring presents an extraordinary tribute to Kobe Bryant
The artifact also comes with a removable top with the help of a ball bearing system. upon removing the top, a Bryant salute is visible. The ring honours Bryant in more ways than one, apart from the removable top, the ring also contains Black Mamba snake encircling every player’s uniform number.
“We created a removable top that exposes the rafters that are up in Staples Center with [jerseys of] all of the retired Laker greats, with a special emphasis put on Kobe Bryant’s No. 8 and No. 24 jersey, and it’s set on a snakeskin-texture background,” said Arasheben,
“This ring eclipses last year’s NBA championship ring as the most valuable NBA championship ring in history with the most amount of diamond carat weight than any other ring in history,” Arasheben said. “I mean, this ring, we really wanted to make a statement. It’s been 10 years since the Lakers have won. We wanted to come out and really make a statement and really reward these players for a job well done.”
The ring reportedly weighs at 16.45 carats and features 804 stones.
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