One of the best teams in Boston Celtics franchise history deserves some special recognition. And the 2023-24 C's certainly got that Tuesday night.
The Celtics received their 2024 championship rings and raised Banner 18 to the TD Garden rafters in a special ceremony before their 2024-25 season opener against the New York Knicks. Several Boston players had visceral reactions while receiving their rings, and now we know why: These rings are among the most elaborate (and high-tech) in NBA history.
For starters, each ring features 15 carats (one for each Eastern Conference team), 18 emerald cut diamonds (one for each of Boston's championships) and 80 white diamonds in the word "champions" (one for every combined win in the Celtics' regular season and playoffs).
It also features the 2023-24 team's mantra, "Whatever It Takes," on its side panels, which are etched in a parquet floor pattern. On the inside of each ring is the result of each of the Celtics' playoff series against Miami (4-1), Cleveland (4-1), Indiana (4-0) and Dallas (4-1).
Tap in on the details 🔎 pic.twitter.com/2ir4xDlUWA
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) October 22, 2024
And on top of all that, it opens up.
Jason Arasheben, the CEO of the jeweler that designed the ring -- Jason of Beverly Hills -- joined NBC Sports Boston's Kayla Burton on Celtics Halftime Live to offer an up-close look at the unique ring.
"This particular ring here, it opens up," Arasheben told Burton. "And what makes it so unique is that on the inside is an actual piece of the parquet floor that we cut up and sanded and put the final score as well as the date of the Finals-clinching win.
"On the inside here, you have the actual banner, and you have the parquet floor pattern with all the jersey numbers of all the active players on the playoff roster."
Arasheben then explained how this Celtics championship ring is the first of its kind.
"For this particular ring, if you take your phone, it's the first ring in championship ring history that has the NFC chip installed in it," Arasheben said. "If you take your phone and you tap it against the green parquet floor, it'll pull up a video that shows how that particular ring was made."
We'd expect nothing less for the 2024 champions, who now have the most titles in NBA history (surpassing the Los Angeles Lakers) after winning Banner 18. Check out Burton's full interview with Arasheben in the video player above.
