Magic Johnson captured both MVP and Finals MVP honors in the Los Angeles Lakers' capstone championship of the Showtime Era. We last had the opportunity to present a 1986-87 Laker ring in 2014, when a staff example sold for almost $11,000. However, this Jostens 14K-gold, size 11 offering is easily superior, because it appears to have belonged to none other than Claire Rothman, famed president and GM of the Great Western Forum. Celebrating the franchise's fifth title since moving from Minneapolis to LA, there are five diamonds on the face and then "DRIVE FOR FIVE / 72 80 82 85" among the nice enameled shank designs. EX/MT condition.

     In her 2010 book Laker Girl, Jeanie Buss aptly sums up Claire Rothman's legacy: Claire, now retired, was one of the most respected executives in our business. Not just one of the most respected women. Her gender didn’t matter. She ran the Spectrum in Philadelphia in the late 1960s and then was hired by Jack Kent Cooke to run the Forum in the mid-1970s. When my dad assumed command, he was very comfortable keeping Claire in control. Concerts are the bread and butter of an operation like the Forum. So you really have to have a good relationship with the music industry, and nobody was better connected than Claire…Playing at the Forum was a must for an artist; it was the Madison Square Garden of the West. Claire built a fantastic reputation for the Forum that I was fortunate to inherit in 1995.

Auction Notepad