There’s no such thing as a guaranteed win in the world of sports — unless you’re Knicks forward Jeremy Sochan. The fifth-year NBA player finds himself in rare company entering the 2026 NBA Finals, because it quite literally doesn’t matter who wins, he’s getting a ring anyway. It’s something we saw in 2020 with Dion Waiters in the Lakers/Heat final, and now it’s happening once more.
This is happening because Jeremy Sochan began the 2025-26 season with the San Antonio Spurs where he played 28 games, averaging 4.1 points per game in 12.8 minutes. It was clear that the former top-10 pick didn’t figure into the Spurs’ long-term plans, especially in a post-Wemby world — so in February, he reached a mutual agreement with the team to be waived.
Sochan wasn’t looking for a team for very long. Two days later, after he cleared waivers, the Knicks signed him to add to the team’s depth for their playoff run. This meant that he was part of both the Spurs and Knicks in 2025-26, and now Sochan will get a ring regardless, now that they’re meeting in the NBA Finals.
It’s only the fourth time in NBA history that a player has been guaranteed a ring before the first game of the NBA Finals. Heres the history of those games:
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Anderson Varejão (2016-17): Began the season with the Cavaliers and was traded to the Blazers, where he was waived. Signed with the Golden State Warriors. NBA Finals were Cavaliers vs. Warriors, with Cleveland winning. Varejão declined his championship ring.
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Dion Waiters (2019-20): Began the season with the Heat and was traded to the Grizzlies, where he was waived. Signed with the Los Angeles Lakers. NBA Finals were Heat vs. Lakers, with Los Angeles winning and Waiters getting a ring.
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Torrey Craig (2020-21): Began the season with the Bucks. Was traded to the Phoenix Suns for cash considerations. The NBA Finals were Bucks vs. Suns, with Milwaukee winning and Craig getting a ring.
The lesson in all this: Maybe if you really want an NBA ring, you shouldn’t bust your butt to form an unstoppable team — but instead be an utterly dispensable role player who gets waived or traded for cash. Then you might be lucky enough to bounce between two teams and guarantee yourself a ring!
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