Do players who left the team in the offseason get a championship ring?
It takes each and every player on a team to win a title. With that in mind, shouldn’t everyone be rewarded even if they’ve moved on? Let’s find out.
Though it can seem harsh at times, professional sports is ultimately about business. To that end, it is often the case that a player who starts a season with a team doesn’t finish it with them. So, what happens when said team wins a title?
So, do players get the ring even if they’ve left?
To begin with, there is no set rule as to who teams can and can’t give a championship ring to. Where players specifically are concerned, that can include but is not limited to individuals who are injured, have left because of trade, or are not even on the active roster as can happen in the NFL. This also applies to coaches, trainers, executives, personnel, and general staff. An interesting quirk, for example, can be seen in the NHL where the Stanley Cup has limited space and very strict criteria when it comes to the engraving of names. As such, rings are quite frequently given to players who don’t meet the criteria for the names to be etched into history.
Ultimately, what we can say is that in most professional sports leagues, players who were on a team’s roster for a significant portion of the season during which the team won a championship are in fact awarded a championship ring. While the criteria for who is deemed worthy and who is not can vary, the general trend is that players, coaches, and staff who were there through thick and then are rewarded when the curtain comes down on a title-winning season.
What’s an example of this trend in the NBA?
Perhaps the best of all was the Toronto Raptors after the NBA championship in 2019. The Raptors commissioned five grades of rings to celebrate their title clinching run, with 20 of them reserved for the players and staff reportedly worth a staggering $100,000 a pop. Then, there were also 20,000 replica rings (worth around $20 each) which were distributed to the audience at Scotiabank Arena during the championship banner-raising ceremony at the 2019–20 season home opener. It was truly a ‘thankyou moment’ from the team and one that highlights the idea that in the NBA, rings can be for anyone.