What do they look like championship rings in Russian basketball
First Russian champion NBA Timofey Mozgov will receive a ring December 17. The center missed the traditional reception at the White House, as he moved to the Los Angeles Lakers in the summer. According to the traditions of the NBA ring former player teams are awarded on his first visit to the match with the champions. The Lakers won't play in Cleveland until December. While Mozgov is waiting for the award, Match TV found out that there are championship rings not only overseas and which of the basketball players in Russia has the largest collection.
In Russia, two CSKA forwards, Andrei Vorontsevich and team captain Viktor Khryapa, have the largest collection of championship rings. Both of them have seven awards for victories in the Russian Championship.
For the first time the rings of the champion of Russia were awarded in 2003 to the CSKA team. The idea itself appeared in 2002, when Ural Great won the championship for the second year in a row. The Permian club that has already disappeared is the only one to strip CSKA of the title in 2001 and 2002. The remaining 22 championships, including the last 14, were won by Muscovites.
“We wanted to present the rings at the second championship in Perm,” says Sergey Kushchenko, president of the VTB United League, who was president of Ural Great from 1995 to 2002. - Offered by the company that sponsored us. But at the last moment, they apparently counted the money and refused. This idea moved to CSKA, the federation supported it. Rings in my opinion - it's not sports history. A medal, a cup is a sport, and rings are a human story.”
Basketball player Andrei Vorontsevich and his championship rings. / Photo: © Andrey Golovanov and Sergey Kivrin
Until 2010, the Russian Basketball Federation was engaged in the manufacture of rings.
“I have a normal attitude to the presentation of rings in our basketball,” explains Andrei Kirilenko, president of the RFB, in an interview with Match TV. - It's very nice to receive a ring for winning the championship. Or a medal. In principle, I do not see a huge difference between these two awards. It seems to me that there should simply be some kind of memorable thing, some kind of symbol of victory. Now we have medals. And they represent the final mark for the result that the team has achieved. I do not think that we urgently need to abandon the medals and make rings. In any case, this is not a primary task.
Basketball player Andrei Vorontsevich and his championship rings. / Photo: © Andrey Golovanov and Sergey Kivrin
“I have seven rings of the Russian championship and one ring of the Euroleague,” says record holder Andrey Vorontsevich in an interview with Match TV. - The Cup is an award to the team, a merit of the club. And the rings are the personal attributes of the championship. For all the players who have some kind of championship rings, each one is dear and important in its own way.
Basketball player Andrei Vorontsevich and his championship rings. / Photo: © Andrey Golovanov and Sergey Kivrin
Only two rings have the same design. These are rings for victories in the Russian Championship in 2005 and 2006.
Basketball player Andrei Vorontsevich and his championship rings. / Photo: © Andrey Golovanov and Sergey Kivrin
They only have one difference - a gem inside basketball ball on the front of the ring. On the sides of both rings there is an inscription: on one side the word "Champion", on the other - "Russia".
Basketball player Andrei Vorontsevich and his championship rings. / Photo: © Andrey Golovanov and Sergey Kivrin
“Champion rings in Russia were also presented in women's championship, - recalls CEO VTB United League Ilona Korstin. - It's a good tradition! As a player, I have three championship rings. Sometimes I wear them. They are dear to me as a memory and, moreover, they look beautiful: they have an engraving of the Russian Championship, the year of victory is indicated. This season in the VTB United League, we have redesigned the MVP cups. In addition, on upcoming match stars best players will also be marked individually. Will it be rings? come February 11th to the All-Star Game in Sochi and see for yourself!”
Basketball player Andrei Vorontsevich and his championship rings. / Photo: © Andrey Golovanov and Sergey Kivrin
In total, there are 10 rings of the champion of Russia in basketball among men's teams, but not a single basketball player has a complete collection. Vorontsevich has seven rings in a row - from 2006 to 2012. Khryapa - for 2003, 2004 and from 2008 to 2012. He missed three titles when he left to play in the NBA.
Basketball player Andrei Vorontsevich and his championship rings. / Photo: © Andrey Golovanov and Sergey Kivrin
Only one team in Russia received rings - CSKA.
Basketball player Andrei Vorontsevich and his championship rings. / Photo: © Andrey Golovanov and Sergey Kivrin
“Rings were awarded for the victory in the championship of Russia and PBL, and the VTB United League does not give us rings. But we hope that this tradition will be returned,” says Vorontsevich.
Basketball player Andrei Vorontsevich and his championship rings. / Photo: © Andrey Golovanov and Sergey Kivrin
Ring-2010 is very different from the rest in design. It is already all the previous ones, and the engraving "Champion of Russia 2010" is located on inside rings.
Basketball player Andrei Vorontsevich and his championship rings. / Photo: © Andrey Golovanov and Sergey Kivrin
From the 2010/11 season, the Russian Championship was held by the Professional Basketball League for three years. The tradition of presenting rings has not been abandoned, but the design has become less luxurious. On the front of the first ring from PBL - amber.
Basketball player Andrei Vorontsevich and his championship rings. / Photo: © Andrey Golovanov and Sergey Kivrin
“The fact that they are made of precious metals and stones is nice. But as a memory, they are simply priceless, - says Vorontsevich. - It will stay for life. There is something to show and tell your children: here, once dad played and, together with the club, won these rings.
Basketball player Andrei Vorontsevich and his championship rings. / Photo: © Andrey Golovanov and Sergey Kivrin
The last rings were awarded to the champions of Russia in 2012 - and this time they consisted only of metal. In 2013, the rights to host the Russian Championship were transferred to the VTB United League. The tradition of awarding championship rings did not continue, but the story does not end there.
Basketball player Andrei Vorontsevich and his championship rings. / Photo: © Andrey Golovanov and Sergey Kivrin
After winning the Euroleague 2015/16, CSKA made the championship rings for the players and coaches of the club. These rings are not an official award from the tournament organizers.
“We are not original here, the tradition of presenting rings has been around for many years,” says CSKA President Andrey Vatutin in an interview with Match TV. - She did it first. hockey league, then baseball, and in 1947 rings were first awarded in the NBA. When we won the Russian championship, we also received rings. But this time the occasion was more serious and the rings turned out to be bigger and more beautiful. We wanted everyone who was involved in the success - players, coaches, team staff - to have a memory. Not many people know that there are only twenty championship jerseys and caps produced by the Euroleague. Everyone lacks. And then we order more for our own money, so that all masseurs, all doctors have enough. And the rings are such a cherry on the champion cake. As in America, they are different, there are more expensive, there are cheaper. There are three options. It's the same in the NBA: there are super expensive ones, and there are simpler ones."
Text: Hope Perepechko
A photo: Andrey Golovanov and Sergey Kivrin
A small selection of photos of WHA and KHL championship rings. There will not be very many photos, since one league did not exist for a long time, and in the second, the tradition of giving rings was just born.
To begin with, a little information about the VHA, otherwise few people know about it.
The WHA (World Hockey Association) is a professional hockey league that existed for only seven years (1972-1979). United the clubs of the USA and Canada. At one time, it was not a very bad competition for the NHL.
The WHA, like the NHL, handed out championship rings.
ringsWHA
KHL rings
The tradition of giving rings in the KHL has just begun, so there are still few of them ...
And as a bonus, a photo of the rings of world champions
World Championship 2008
In 2008 they made simply magnificent rings. In order to make them difficult to fake, a 0.2 carat diamond was embedded in them, with the same number as on the top, only this number could be seen only under a microscope. The ring is made of white and yellow gold and the weight of such a ring was 25 carats. The coat of arms of the Russian Federation is surrounded by 27 diamonds.
There are 25 rubies on the ring, which symbolizes the number of world championships.
August 21, 2014, 20:39Champion ring- This is an individual distinguishing attribute of the winners, showing that this particular athlete was honored to play in the winning club. And although athletes compete as part of a team for championship cups and champion titles for their club, and they themselves, especially in hockey, are more often called the owners of these cups, and not "owners of rings", no one has yet refused such an honor.
If cups and other trophies are awarded to the whole team, then the ring is an indicator of the honor and glory of each member of the team separately. 
For the first time, the winners were awarded with rings in hockey. The future tradition was born on May 15, 1893, along with the tradition of the Stanley Cup, when the "Montreal Hockey club"received this Cup for the first time in history, and at the same time, the players of the club were awarded gold rings with engraved crossed sticks and the abbreviation MHC (Montreal Hockey Club). This type of award was highly appreciated by the North American leagues of other sports and made the winners' rings their obligatory attribute, but she herself For a long time, the NHL didn't give a damn about their brainchild, like in Montreal in the 1930s and 40s champions got turkeys instead of rings. 
Now the cost of each "ring" reaches $ 30,000. Given that they are received not only by players, but also by coaches, doctors and others, the cost of producing rings exceeds $ 1 million. In order for clubs to save a little, several versions of championship rings are made. Players, coaches and top managers get the ones they show to journalists and spectators at the awards ceremony - gold or platinum with a bunch of precious stones. Other club employees - clerks, scouts, medical staff - get similar, but significantly less expensive rings.
Toronto Maple Leaves - 1967
Philadelphia Flyers - 1975
Winnipeg Jets 1978
Edmonton Oilers - 1985 
Pittsburgh Penguins - 1991 
Dallas Stars - 1999
Colorado Avalanche - 2001 
Tampa Bay Lightnings - 2004
Pittsburgh Penguins - 2009 
Chicago Blackhawks - 2010 
Boston Bruins - 2011
AT KHL Rings were handed out recently. Salavat Yulaev - 2011.
Dynamo Moscow - 2012
World Championships: 2008
. On the occasion of the first champion title of the Russian team in 15 years, they made really magnificent rings. To make it difficult to fake a ring, each of them has a small diamond weighing 0.2 carats with the same number as on top, but visible only under a microscope. The jewelry itself is made of white and yellow gold, the total weight of which was 25 carats. And 27 diamonds cover the center with the coat of arms of the Russian Federation and the emblem International Federation hockey. 
2012. The ring is made of white and yellow gold. The decorative part is stylized hockey rink and is decorated with the image of the Russian flag and 26 rubies, symbolizing the number of victories of the Russian team at the World Ice Hockey Championships. Top part The ring is decorated with the inscription "World Champion" and the indication of the year when the championship was won - 2012. Both inscriptions are made using enamel and sapphires. One side of the ring is decorated with the logo of the tournament held in Sweden and Finland, made using enamel. The other - the image of the coat of arms Russian Federation, encrusted with a diamond. The name, game number and the individual number of the ring itself will be printed on the inside.
USSR Super Series - Canada 1972.
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Linesman was the first to receive this award. Sergey Shelyanin, and now there are ten owners of the rings. This grandmaster result was achieved by nine more people - the main arbiters Konstantin Olenin, Alexey Ravodin, Eduard Odinsh, Sergey Kulakov, Alexey Belov, Sergey Gusev, Viktor Gashilov, as well as linear Dmitry Sivov and Konstantin Gordenko. The linesmen will also receive rings Victor Tomilov, Petr Alyoshin and Roman Shikhanov, which also reached the mark of 500 matches in the top divisions of the Russian Ice Hockey Championship.
Alexey Anisimov, Chief Referee of the KHL:“It is impossible not to celebrate this pleasant event. Our long tradition is to present commemorative rings to referees who have adjudicated 500 matches in the national championships. 500 matches is a milestone, an assessment by the League of the high professionalism of referees, recognition of merits and gratitude for their work.”
Sergey Kulakov:“It's nice that such a large group of judges has reached such a significant mark. And it is doubly pleasant that such serious moments in the career of judges are not missed. The prizes were very worthy. Did I count the number of matches during the season? No, because here nothing depends on us. You're just working hard trying to fit in high level KHL, and everything goes on as usual.
Sergey Gusev:“This is the most exciting and enjoyable moment in my life. I would like to wish the younger generation that this ring be an intermediate reward for them. Will I aim for 1000 matches? Of course, I would like to do this, but, due to the age limit, most likely it will not work. But I'm proud to have reached the 500 games mark and will definitely wear a ring to remind me of that."
Konstantin Olenin:“The fact that you have reached such a milestone is already a reward. Credit to the League. Therefore, material incentives fade into the background, but still remain a pleasant addition to your achievement, just like these commemorative rings.