LeBron has four rings. Two of his rings are from back to back championships that he won with the Miami Heat in 2012 and 2013. Lebron also has a ring from winning the NBA championship with the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2016. LeBron won his fourth ring with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2020.
NBA championship rings are like crown jewels, covered in diamonds and with unique detail for the team which won that seasons NBA Championship. They are designed and produced after the NBA Finals have been decided and presented to the team at the start of the folowing season. So they are highly personal to that team and that season. The most important aspect of the ring is the year in which the championship was won being inscribed upon the ring. We have looked at the rings which LeBron has won during his time in the NBA and explained the details of each ring.
2012 Miami Heat NBA Championship Ring
In 2010, Lebron moved to the Miami Heat to create a super team with Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh. The Miami Heat won their first NBA Championship with the three players in 2012. In the Finals the “Heatles” came up against an Oklahoma City Thunder team that featured 3 future MVPs, (James Harden, Russel Westbrook and Kevin Durrant) and emerged victorious.
The ring which LeBron recieved in 2012 had the NBA Championship Trophy in the center of the ring, with the Miami Heat logo over the top of the ring. Words are inscribed on the top and bottom of the trophy with the words ‘World Champions’. To the left side of the ring LeBron’s name is inscribed with the year.
As mentioned NBA rings have diamonds encrusted upon them. LeBron’s Miami Heat ring from 2012 had 219 individual diamonds and three onyx stones.
2013 Miami Heat NBA Championship Ring
It was back to back championships for Dwayne Wade, Chris Bosh and LeBron James by beating the San Antonio Spurs in the NBA finals.
The 2013 NBA Championship ring, had two NBA Championship Trophies on the ring. This was to reflect the back to back NBA titles which the Miami Heat had won. A black onyx stone sat upon the ring which was made out of 14-karat gold. The words ‘World Champions‘ are inscribed on the ring. There are 242 diamonds on the ring.
2016 Cleveland Cavaliers NBA Championship Ring
LeBron James left the Miami Heat and went back to Cleveland in 2014. LeBron desperately wanted to win a first championship for the city of Cleveland, he grew up less than 50miles away in Akron, Ohio. The Cavaliers made it to the NBA Finals however, it looked unlikely that they would win a NBA Championship, as they were 3-1 down in the NBA series against the Golden State Warriors – no team had ever come back from a 3-1 defecit in the Finals. Two of the Final 3 games would be played on the road in Oakland. LeBron and the team managed to force a Game 7, which was already one of the greatest come back stories in NBA history. With a minute and half left of Game 7, LeBron made ‘The Block’ on 2015 Finals MVP Andre Iguodala the boyant Oakland crowd fell silent. The jersey that LeBron wore that night for the Cav’s is my all time favourite Cav’s jersey (the link takes you to the NBA Store for that jersey). The Cavs held their nerve and won the first NBA Championship in the franchises history, completing the greatest comeback in NBA history.
The Championship rings for the Cavs were always going to be special as it had been the ambition of LeBron to get a championship for Cleveland since he was drafted by them out of high school. The rings had 400 diamonds encrusted on them and were made from a mix of white gold and gold.
The ring has significant detail including how the Cav’s came back from being 3-1 down in the series. The NBA Store still has the Cav’s Jersey from the NBA 2016 in stock and it is worth picking up the iconic Jersey now before it becomes a through back, click here to get a Lebron Jersey (link takes you to the NBA store). It is also worthwhile reading Ady’s piece on out of date products in the NBA store (link takes you to Ady’s blog post).
However, the Cav’s management went one step further and gave 2,000 Cleveland Cavaliers employees a championship ring which was similar to the Cleveland Cavaliers players rings. The rings were given to the employees to celebrate the hard work everyone put in to make the the championship a reality.
Make sure you don’t miss any NBA Games this season by signing up to League Pass (the link takes you the NBA league pass site) and watch the drama unfold.
2020 Los Angeles Lakers Championship Ring
LeBron added his fourth ring on the night of 11 October 2020, where he led the Los Angeles Lakers to their first ring in a decade. The NBA season had been delayed and in the end the playoffs took place in the NBA bubble in Disneyland Florida. Lebron came up against the Miami Heat and dispatched the Heat by 4 games to 2. LeBron won the finals MVP and has to be considered a legend of the game however, opposition fans will argue that this NBA title will have an astrieks next to it, click here to see our review of all the asteriks titles since 2000.
Obviously, the Lakers will not recieve their rings until their opening home much of next season and I can imagine that this ring will be spectacular.