Do players who got traded mid-season get NBA Championship rings?
After winning the NBA Finals, there are no specific rules governing the allocation of championship rings or identifying the recipients within the team.
In the NBA, every year, 30 teams (these days, anyway) battle it out through 82 regular-season games, each hoping to be able to earn a spot in the league’s playoffs and ultimately try to become the champions.
In this 2024 campaign, the Boston Celtics and the Dallas Mavericks are the two franchises that have made it to the Finals and are now fighting to lift the Championship and, consequently, receive the NBA rings as champions.
Who gets an NBA Championship ring?
There are no rules on how many rings a Championship-winning team receives and who is given one.
The winning franchise and its owners decide who receives a ring. There are no set rules on which individuals will receive a ring. Some organizations will go all out for their first Championship ring, while other teams that have previously won the competition will be more conservative in who gets a ring.
The players and the coaching staff get one clearly, but teams also tend to include most other people who work for the franchise and give one to legendary former players.
Do traded players get a Championship ring?
It’s an unwritten rule that any player who played for a team that has won an NBA championship at any point during the season is offered a ring even if they are no longer playing for that team or are traded.
If a player were traded halfway through the season and played against his former team in the playoffs, he would accept the ring if his former team won the NBA Championship.
That happened to Anderson Varejo. In 2016, he played 30 games for the Cleveland Cavaliers before being traded to the Portland Trailblazers. Portland then released the Brazilian player, who signed with the Warriors. That year, Golden State blew a 3-1 lead in the NBA Finals against Varejao’s former team, the Cavaliers, led by Lebron James.
After the Cavs won the NBA Championship, the team owners contacted Varejao to offer him a Championship ring as a gesture of appreciation for his contributions during that year. However, he declined the offer to demonstrate his loyalty to the GSW. Later, Varejao was traded to the Portland Trailblazers after playing only 14 games with the Dubs during the 2016-17 season. Despite this, the Warriors presented him with a championship ring as a token of recognition. This time around, Varejao was delighted to accept it.