The Larry O’Brien Championship Trophy is the championship trophy awarded annually by the National Basketball Association (NBA) to the winner of the NBA Finals. The trophy originally kept the Walter A. Brown Trophy name of its predecessor until being renamed in 1984.
The current design, depicting a basketball over a hoop and basket, was first awarded in 1977 still under its original name, which was changed in honor of former NBA commissioner Larry O'Brien who served from 1975 to 1984. Before joining the NBA, O'Brien was the United States Postmaster General under President Lyndon B. Johnson from 1965 to 1968.
History
A new trophy was created for the 1977 NBA Finals. The inaugural winners were the Portland Trail Blazers, who defeated Philadelphia 76ers in six games. Unlike the original championship trophy, the new trophy was given permanently to the winning team and a new one was made every year, similar to the Vince Lombardi Trophy, awarded annually to the winning team of the NFL's Super Bowl and the Commissioner's Trophy, awarded annually to the winning team of Major League Baseball's World Series. The 1982–83 76ers were the last team to win the Brown Trophy, sweeping the Los Angeles Lakers in 1983.
In 1984, the trophy was renamed to the Larry O'Brien Championship Trophy, in honor of Larry O'Brien, who served as NBA commissioner from 1975 to 1984. The Boston Celtics were the inaugural winners of the renamed trophy, defeating the Los Angeles Lakers in seven games in the 1984 NBA Finals.
As part of a series of redesigned awards as part of its 75th anniversary season, the trophy design was once again changed. The most notable change is the two discs replacing the square foundation of the previous design. According to the designer of the new trophy, the square foundation was seen as an awkward way to hold the trophy, and the round discs will make it easier to carry and lift. The two discs function like the metal bands of the National Hockey League (NHL)'s Stanley Cup. The top disc shows the league's first 75 championship teams from 1947 to 2021, while the bottom disc will have the next 25 championship teams from 2022 to 2046, in time for the association's 100th anniversary. The resigned trophy's ball and net are also slanted to the right, or forward, to represent the league's continued desire to be progressive.
Description
The trophy is two feet tall and is made of 15.5 pounds of sterling silver and vermeil with a 24 karat gold overlay. The basketball depicted on top is the same size as a real basketball. The trophy was designed by artist Victor Solomon for the NBA's 75th anniversary season and is manufactured by Tiffany & Co. The championship team maintains permanent possession of the trophy (although one exception exists, as described below). The year and winning team names are engraved on the trophies, and are often prominently displayed in the winning team's arena.
After the sale of the Houston Rockets from Leslie Alexander to Tilman Fertitta in late 2017, Alexander maintained the ownership of the team's 1993-94 and 1994-95 trophies as mementos of his ownership. Thus, the team commissioned Tiffany to create replica versions of both Larry O'Brien trophies (and replacing the 1993-94 trophy, which was unexpectedly dropped and dented by reserve center Richard Petruška during the celebration), which were publicly unveiled on September 20, 2018.