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Florida storage unit treasure hunters find former NBA player's championship rings, jerseys

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Published  November 26, 2024 6:04pm EST
Florida
FOX 35 Orlando

Former NBA players championship ring found in storage unit

A Florida YouTuber who buys abandoned storage units found priceless valuables belonging to a former NBA basketball player. Here's the story of how he contacted that player and returned those priceless possessions.

The Brief

    • A father-son team of so-called storage unit treasure hunters found a remarkable find.
    • They purchased an abandoned storage unit in Seminole County and found championship rings, trophies, and fan mail inside.
    • Turns out, it belonged to a former professional basketball player. Instead of selling the items, they used the power of the internet to reach that former player.

SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla. - When Thomas and Dan Kline bought an abandoned storage unit in Seminole County, they had no idea it belonged to a former NBA player. And when they found the valuables inside, like championship rings, they knew exactly what they had to do.

Dan and Thomas Kline, a father-son duo, buy storage units and resell the valuable items inside. They purchased an abandoned unit in Seminole County and found several specialty sports memorabilia, including game-worn Lakers jerseys, championship rings, and All-Star game rings.

They knew it was special, but weren't sure initially who those items belonged to. Until, that is, they found a piece of fan mail addressed to David Rivers, a former NBA player.

"I pulled up a letter with the card, and it said ‘Dear Mr. Rivers, I'm a big fan of yours. Would you please autograph my card?’," said Dan.

"After we found that note, we found the rings. And we realized that this storage unit belonged to a professional basketball player who played for the L.A. Lakers," added Thomas.

Rivers was a professional basketball player in both the NBA and Europe. Rivers played for the Los Angeles Lakers and LA Clippers in the late 80s and early 90s before having a long professional career overseas.

Thomas and Dan then were on a mission to get in touch with Rivers who now lives in the U.S. and Europe. So, another YouTuber with a big following came in with the assist and made a video with the Klines hoping it would reach Rivers so that they could return the items they found.

"There was an importance to that storage unit that far outweighed the value of money and our opinions. There were things in there that he would never be able to get back if we did not reach out to him," said Thomas.

It was a slam dunk because Rivers saw the video.

"I saw the video and it was like, my goodness, what has happened?" said David Rivers.
Rivers had previously lived in Longwood, Florida. 

He told FOX 35 that a family member who had been in charge of the storage unit had died and their credit cards were canceled, so the automatic payments weren’t going through and that’s why the storage unit went up for sale. He had no idea his things were in there.

"Just their act, their kind act and generosity. They could have made an awful lot of money going through that unit," said Rivers. "The fact that they chose the path that they did, I wanted to celebrate that. I wanted to celebrate them. And just really, I hope your viewers will kind of learn about Thomas and Dan and do a kind of following them because they're the kind of people that, you know, we can all learn from."

Now, the Klines hope sharing their story will inspire others in this season of giving.

"When you can give back, you should. You should always. When you can. The right thing. If you can do the right thing, you should do the right thing," said Thomas.

After his professional basketball career, Rivers started the R.E.S.T Foundation, which stands for Rivers Education and Sports Technology Foundation. Rivers signed some autographs that the Klines are going to donate to charity this holiday season.