Luc Longley’s misplaced NBA championship rings have been found at the AIS Museum

Luc Longley’s misplaced NBA championship rings have been found at the AIS Museum in Canberra and they are happy to return them to the Australian basketball legend.

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Mystery solved.

Luc Longley’s misplaced NBA championship rings have been found at the AIS Museum in Canberra and they are happy to return them to the Australian basketball legend.

Longley prompted the internet to blow up with a mixture of shock and humour on Thursday when he told The Daily Telegraph he had lost two of his rings from his days with Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls.

Almost a decade ago, Longley lent his rings to an Australian museum so the public could see them.

The only problem is he couldn’t remember which museum housed his prized possessions and lost the email containing its contact details.

“I’m old now, so I’m allowed to be forgetful but I’ve stone-cold forgotten what museum they are in,” Longley said. “I think it is Canberra but I’m not even sure about the state.

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Longley misplaced two of his NBA championship rings.

Thankfully, only 15 minutes after The Daily Telegraph posted Longley’s story online on Thursday afternoon a number of people commented that the rings were at the AIS in Canberra.

This prompted the museum’s co-ordinator of exhibits and capital works, Adam Alison, to contact Luc and then the Sydney Kings, where the Australian hoops legend is working as a special advisor.

“I’ve got the loan agreement for the rings on file and I tried to call Luc but he didn’t answer, which isn’t surprising,” Alison said.

“So I called the Kings and they were laughing saying, ‘you’re from the AIS’.

“I said I’ve literally just had Luc’s championship rings cleaned and put back on display but I passed on my contact details.

“Luc can take them back whenever he wants.

“The agreement is that we have them until he wants them back.”

Longley isn’t the first athlete who has called the AIS asking about lost items that they’ve lent.

Alison remembers when legendary Australian cricket fast bowler Dennis Lillee phoned him about a misplaced piece of memorabilia.

“Dennis phoned me one day and was after his aluminium bat,” he said.

“We did have his bat but we’d given it back years ago.

“Dennis said, ‘well who has got it then?’

“I just said sorry mate, I can’t help you with that part.”

Longley is one of Australian basketball’s most successful exports. Picture by Toby Zerna.

Jokes aside, Alison said Longley’s 1996 and 1998 championship rings have been a huge drawcard for the AIS museum in Canberra.

“They’ve been massive,” said Alison, who also has Longley’s 1996 Chicago Bulls singlet, pants and shoes at the museum.

“The amount of people that you get around 40 plus like me who remember that period when Luc was at the Bulls and their amazing run in the 90s.

“The rings actually sit next to Cathy Freeman’s gold medal winning shoes that she won in Sydney, so that whole section is quite nostalgic for a lot people.

“So it will be a shame to lose Luc’s rings but understandably he is probably missing them as well.

“We are more than happy to return them when he wants.”