Who gets the bling if Boston captures the ring?

SAN FRANCISCO — The Celtics entered Game 5 of the NBA Finals against the Warriors on Monday night just two wins from their first championship since 2008. No player on the current roster has ever won a title; they would be winning their first championship rings.

For much of this unusual season, the Celtics roster was a revolving door: 32 players have been on the team. So would those who have departed be in position to secure the splashy jewelry, too? Well, maybe.

Officially, league rules stipulate that a player must be a member of the roster at season’s end to be eligible for a ring, but the decision essentially rests with the team. An NBA spokesperson said that when teams request permission to give rings to former players, they are typically granted. But those requests tend to be rare. The only hard-and-fast rule is that the player has to have been a member of the team at some point during the season.

When COVID-19 was pummeling NBA rosters in late December, the league established a hardship exception that allowed teams to sign extra players to 10-day contracts without affecting the 15-player roster limit. Then in February, the Celtics made three trades, sending out seven players and adding Derrick White and Daniel Theis, filling most of those empty spots with G League callups.

Seven-time All-star Joe Johnson, 40, signed a 10-day deal in December and hit his only shot in his only appearance, a two-minute stint against the Cavaliers. Bol Bol and P.J. Dozier were injured when acquired in January

and remained injured when they were traded a month later. There were other veterans on 10-day contracts you’ve probably forgotten: Al-farouq Aminu, Justin Jackson, Norvel Pelle. And rotation players Romeo Langford, Dennis Schröder, Josh Richardson, Enes Freedom, Bruno Fernando and Juancho Hernangómez were dealt as part of team president Brad Stevens’ midseason rebuild. Whether any would get championship rings could ultimately be up to team ownership.