Lakers honour Kobe Bryant with their NBA Champion Ring

The new Lakers Champion ring. Picture: Instagram/@lakers.

The new Lakers Champion ring. Picture: Instagram/@lakers.

Published Dec 23, 2020

Share

Winners of the NBA 2020 tournament, the Los Angeles Lakers, received their NBA Championship rings on Tuesday night in a pre-game ceremony at Staples Center, LA.

The luxurious rings were designed by jeweller Jason Arasheben of Jason of Beverly Hills. He was behind the Lakers’ last championship rings in 2009 and 2010.

Arasheben had less than 70 days to design the rings – this was because the Lakers won the NBA Championship on October 11 after defeating the Miami Heat 106-93 in Game 6 to win the series 4-2. The game took place inside the bubble at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida.

Speaking to NBC, Arasheben said the bling on the rings is storytelling.

He said: "That was the fun part about this particular ring, is that there was so much story to tell. It was a season unlike any other in history."

He added that he put 95 carats in each of the amethyst stones because the players spent 95 days inside the bubble in Orlando.

The ring also pays tribute to Kobe and Gianna Bryant, who tragically died in a helicopter crash during the NBA season in January. There is a black mamba snake around each player's jersey number, and the ring has a unique detachable top that reveals a tribute to Bryant and other Laker legends.

"We created a removable top that exposes the rafters that are up in Staples Center with all of the retired Laker greats, with a special emphasis put on Kobe's No. 8 and No. 24 jerseys, and it's set on a snakeskin texture background," said Arasheben.

Each ring has the words "Leave a Legacy" in Lebron James' handwriting engraved on it. There is also the word "unite" engraved in it to honour the social justice movement that began during the NBA's hiatus because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Related Topics: