Cherokee Parks' back-to-back Duke national championship ring sells for $36,600

Former Duke center Cherokee Parks has sold his 1991-92 back-to-back national championship ring, according to Darren Rovell. The ring reportedly sold for $36,600 at Goldin, a company that sells collectible items.

Parks spent four seasons with the Blue Devils from 1991-1995. He played a reserve role during the championship season as a true freshman, averaging 5.0 points, 2.4 rebounds and 1.0 blocks per game. Duke defeated Michigan and the famous “Fab Five” by a score of 71-51 in 1992 to claim the title that year.

Parks would go on to become a starter over the next three seasons in Durham. He averaged 19.0 points, 9.3 rebounds and 1.8 blocks during his final season in 1994-95. He still ranks third in school history with 231 career blocks.

Parks was later selected 12th overall in the 1995 NBA Draft to the Dallas Mavericks. He went on to enjoy nine-year NBA career playing for seven different franchises. His best season came in 1997-98 with the Minnesota Timberwolves, where he put up 7.1 points, 5.5 rebounds and 1.1 blocks.

It’s surprising to see Cherokee Parks part with his championship ring, but it wasn’t the only item he listed for sale.

He received two rings for winning the title that year and also sold the other for an even higher bid of $44,326. Other items he auctioned off include a handwritten letter he received from Christian Laettner in high school, his 1994 Final Four ring and a gold watch he received for making the Final Four that season.

Parks received more than $100,000 for the items in total.

Following his NBA career, Parks opened a punk rock bar according to a 2018 article from SLAM magazine. He later returned to play basketball overseas in France in 2011, but would have open heart surgery two years later.

Parks later joined the Basketball Operations Associate Program, which teaches former NBA players the ins and outs and working in the league from a business perspective. He now works in player development for the NBA, according to his LinkedIn page.

“I realized I loved basketball, that I really liked the opportunities it provided and the people it introduced me to,” Parks told SLAM in that 2018 article of his decision to return. “I wanted to leave the game on a good note. I didn’t the first time around. But I wanted to have a positive impact.”