I don’t know Peter Guber well enough to insist he’s a “give anyone the shirt off his back” type of guy. I do know he thinks big and dreams bigger, which explains why even his best button-down would be an insufficient gift for a truly worthy recipient.
That mentality allowed the Warriors co-owner and Hollywood mogul to officially join the ultra-exclusive “give anyone the championship ring off his finger” club.
“I was asked if I was willing to give up something that really meant something to me that would be valuable,” Guber told NBC Sports Bay Area on Wednesday from him home in Los Angeles. “I thought about it. I didn’t want to give up my first Oscar. But winning the NBA championship, that first ring, which was the one I wore, I thought, ‘OK. This means a lot to me.’ That was it.
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“So, hopefully somebody else would cherish it and put money in that would give a lot to some people that really, really, really need it.”
Guber’s 2015 Warriors championship ring, with an appraised value of $13,000 when crafted, is being donated as part of the ALL-IN Challenge auction, with proceeds going to nonprofit organizations serving children, the needy and frontline workers during the global coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
As of Wednesday afternoon, the bid on Guber’s ring was at $70,000, the second-highest total for a single item behind the $320,000 bid for rapper Meek Mill’s 2018 Rolls Royce Phantom.
Guber says he could have given a cash donation in the amount of the ring’s value but felt this was more personal and might mean more to whomever wins it.
Golden State Warriors
“It was not an easy decision, though, because that was the one I wore,” Guber said. “The decision was whether to give up an Emmy, an Oscar, a Grammy. Is the grand prize in Cannes? Is it the shirt signed by the Warriors?
“This, I think, might be more valuable to someone.”
It also will send at least five times more money toward the cause, which is the brainchild of Philadelphia 76ers part-owner Michael Rubin. Rubin said he was inspired by the Ice Bucket Challenge of 2014, which over two months raised more than $100 million.
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Among other sports figures donating items or customized packages are Magic Johnson, Dwyane Wade, Trae Young, Joe Montana, Jerry Rice, Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers, David Beckham and Jack Nicklaus.
“This was, for me, to align and motivate others to do something similar and hopefully create a groundswell,” said Guber, who still has championship rings from 2017 and 2018.
More than 100 items and packages are up for bid, with running total exceeding $16 million. No end date has been announced, but the goal of the ALL-IN Challenge was to raise “tens of millions of dollars.”