Shaquille O’Neal Wants To Buy Bill Russell’s 11 NBA Championships Rings: “Nobody Is Outbidding Me”
About two years ago, NBA all-time great, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar auctioned off his championship rings and MVP trophies for charity.
Back then, the items sold for $2,947,872.25. His rings, which had starting bids of $60,000 to $65,000, netted four of the five highest sales at the auction’s end. Abdul-Jabbar’s 1987 ring sold for the most, going for $398,937.50. His ring from 1985 went for $343,700, while the two other rings from 1980 and 1988 went for $245,500 each.
Then, earlier this year, fellow all-time great Bill Russell revealed that he’ll be doing the same thing. The 11-time Champion has announced that he will be auctioning off much of his NBA memorabilia as well.
The proceeds will go to Russell’s nonprofit organization, MENTOR, and to Celtics United for Social Justice.
When Shaquille O’Neal found out about it, he expressed his desire to purchase all of Russell’s championship rings, saying that no-one will be able to outbid him.
“I would’ve liked to see the items before the auction. Because you know I’d like to take some stuff off the hat. To be able to have all eleven of his rings, nobody’s outbidding me on that one.”