Golden State Warriors: Why do they receive NBA championship rings? What do they look like?

The Warriors will open the season as champions tonight when they host the Oklahoma City Thunder at the Oracle Arena.

And for the third time in four season, they will be presented with their championship rings as well as raising a new banner to commemorate their success.

While their 2018 NBA Finals defeat of the Cleveland Cavaliers happened months ago, it is another chance for the Warriors to show off their latest triumph.

Find out below everything you need to know about the ceremony.

Why do the NBA champions receive rings?

NBA Championship rings have been a hallmark in the league since 1947 and are traditionally handcrafted pieces of jewellery.

Rings are a staple in American sports with NFL, baseball and NHL all handing out rings to the champions on their respective sports.

It is seen as the ultimate symbol of success with sporting legends such as Bill Russell, who won 11 championships, sporting an array of different rings.

What does the Warriors championship ring look like?

While photos of the 2018 championship rings have been kept a secret, the designer for the ring, Jason Arasheben, has given an interesting insight into the input he received from the players.

“[Draymond] wanted to have a ring to be a certain way, but also wanted to break away from the past, so to speak,” Arasheben told Brandon Robinson.

“They wanted to have a ring that had its own identity, you know, didn’t really look like previous championship rings.

“So, you know, we definitely got a lot of the players’ input.

“Then there were other players who don’t really need to give as much input, like Klay, who was just happy to have a ring at all.”

He added: “I wanted to got with something tasteful, so we really had to be creative with the design, and when you see this ring,” Arasheben said.

“What it can do that no other ring in championship history has been able to do was really difficult to do from a manufacturing standpoint, but what it can do is give this ring a ton of flexibility and it’s so intricate in it’s design.”