Lakers Championship Ring 2010 Heading to Ron Artest Charity

LOS ANGELES (LALATE) – The Lakers Championship Ring 2010 (photos below) won’t be going onto Ron Artest’s finger. One of the Lakers Championship rings passed out last night, and nabbed Justin Bieber in Tuesday’s pop-bling moment, is going to raise awareness and funds for mental health, courtesy of Ron Artest.
Ron Artest wants his ring to benefit mental health medical proceeds in the United States. Ron Artest told news that he got counseling at age 13 but funding dried up. Last summer, he helped lead the Lakers to a victory over the Celtics. But he also got the aid of a psychiatrist, typical for many athletes, to relax him during the NBA Finals.
Now Artest is giving back.
Artest says that when he was growing up, communities didn’t talk about mental health. He admits that when he told friends he was seeing a psychiatrist during the NBA Finals, people even looked at him strangely. Artest said countless people offered him over $100,000 for his ring. But he intends to use it raise funds for mental health. “This will be for children of all demographics, rich or poor— preferably the rich can pay for their own psychologists—but it’ll be a great way to help kids who don’t know where they’re going in their life at this point” Artest told news in June.
Lakers Ring Picture
Lakers Ring Photo 1
Lakers Ring Photo 2
Lakers Ring Photo 3
Sixty rings were passed out last night. Phil Jackson said his is “unwearable”. Each ring includes leather bits of cut up particles from the Game 7 Championship basketball. The rings, created by Jason of Beverly Hills, are karats worth of diamonds. They include 16 oversized diamonds for the team’s 16 championships.
Artest hasn’t chosen the charity he will use. But he says he hopes the ring is a starting point. With previous work with Rep. Grace Napolitano, Artest is giving back, not just with money but also with manpower.













