![\"Medvedko\"](\"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/NBA-weekly-feature-1-696x392.jpg\" "\\"Medvedko\\"\/")
Viewers on DStv and GOtv can look forward to thrills and spills from the world\u2019s best basketball league, with ESPN and ESPN 2 the premier venues for coverage of the National Basketball Association (NBA).<\/p>\n
DStv and GOtv are your home of the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network.<\/p>\n
Former Los Angeles Lakers star Slava Medvedenko has auctioned off his two NBA championship rings to raise money for his native country of Ukraine, which has been under attack from Russia since earlier this year.<\/p>\n
Medvedenko was a power forward on the Lakers\u2019 championship teams in 2001 and 2002, playing alongside legends of the NBA such as Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O\u2019Neal.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Medvedenko will use the money from the auction to support Ukrainian children by restoring the sports infrastructure of the war-torn country\u2019s schools and launching a network of social sports clubs.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe want to restore gyms because the Russian army bombed more than a hundred schools,\u201d he explained. \u201cOur country, they need a lot of money to fix the schools. Sports gyms are going to be last in the line to fix it. In Ukraine, we have winter and kids need to play inside.\u201d<\/p>\n
Medvedenko said he decided to sell the rings after going to the roof of one of the tallest buildings in his Kyiv neighborhood and watching rockets launched by Russian forces streak through the night sky.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn this moment I just decided, \u2018Why do I need these rings if they\u2019re just sitting in my safe?\u2019\u201d Medvedenko said. \u201cI just recognise I can die. After that, I just say I have to sell them to show people leadership, to help my Ukrainian people to live better, to help kids.\u201d<\/p>\n
He added, \u201cIn Ukraine, you\u2019re just feeling it\u2019s war, rockets, air alerts. You\u2019re so used to that kind of pressure. As soon as you cross the border [into Poland] and see how people live normal life, it\u2019s a different world.\u201d<\/p>\n
Medvedenko has even served in Ukraine\u2019s defence forces during the ongoing war. \u201cWe were defending our neighbourhood, doing checkpoints and duty patrol. I\u2019m not the best solider, I\u2019m not the best shooter, but I can give them support,\u201d he said, adding that he carried an AK-47.<\/p>\n
\u201cI shoot it a couple times, not at people. I\u2019m happy I don\u2019t have a chance to shoot somebody. Our army did a great job to defend Kyiv. I want to thank them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Beyond his humanitarian efforts during the war, Medvedenko has long-term goals to help his country: \u201cAfter the victory, we will definitely return to that question of quality changes in sport. Ten years in the United States, I saw how it works. I hope I have ideal model in my mind to change Ukrainian sport.\u201d<\/p>\n
Visit www.dstv.com and www.gotvafrica.com to subscribe or upgrade, and join in on the excitement. And while you\u2019re on the move, you can stream the action on the DStv App.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n