Early in the morning on February 26, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar posted to his blog an announcement that he will be auctioning off four of the NBA championship rings he won during his career plus some other sports memorabilia he owns up for auction.
Initially, some speculated that Abdul-Jabbar was performing this action because of his former, well-known financial struggles. However, Abdul-Jabbar assured in his post that his personal finances were fine, and conducting the auction has nothing to do with any of his past struggles. In fact, Abdul-Jabbar displayed a sense of humor about this, knowing people would assume he was trying to pocket money from the sales, which is not his current intent.
“‘Oh, how the mighty have fallen,’ the fans will wail with some mixture of sadness and the knowing nod of inevitability. ‘Well, it happens to the best of ’em,” Abdul-Jabbar said, according to Yahoo Sports .
The famous athlete, who played for both the Milwaukee Bucks and Los Angeles Lakers, decided to sell four of his championship rings from 1980, 1985, 1987, and 1988, all titles he earned while with the Lakers. Some of the other memorabilia he plans to auction off include game-worn jerseys and other items he has autographed. He even decided to auction off the game-used ball he has owned from his last professional game in 1989.
So, what is Abdul-Jabbar’s true intent for auctioning off such a large amount of sports memorabilia? The NBA great plans on giving most of the proceeds to his charity, the Skyhook Foundation. Abdul-Jabbar’s Skyhook Foundation works to help educate children about math, technology, science, and engineering.
For those of you wondering why Abdul-Jabbar would be willing to auction off some of his own coveted championship items to raise money for his charity, Abdul-Jabbar posted a statement to explain his decision.
“So, when it comes to choosing between storing a championship ring or trophy in a room, or providing kids with an opportunity to change their lives, the choice is pretty simple. Sell it all. Looking back on what I have done with my life, instead of gazing at the sparkle of jewels or gold plating celebrating something I did a long time ago, I’d rather look into the delighted face of a child holding their first caterpillar and think about what I might be doing for their future. That’s a history that has no price,” Abdul-Jabbar wrote, according to ESPN .
Goldin Auctions will be hosting the auction for Abdul-Jabbar and the Skyhook Foundation
