The Larry O'Brien NBA Championship Trophy is the championship

trophy A trophy is a tangible, durable reminder of a specific achievement, and serves as a recognition or evidence of merit. Trophies are often awarded for sporting events, from youth sports to professional level athletics. In many sports medals (or, in ...

awarded annually by the National Basketball Association (NBA) to the winner of the

NBA Finals The NBA Finals is the annual championship series of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Eastern and Western Conference champions play a best-of-seven game series to determine the league champion. The team that wins the series is awa ...

. The trophy originally kept the

Walter A. Brown Trophy The Walter A. Brown Trophy was a trophy awarded to the National Basketball Association (NBA) (the Basketball Association of America (BAA) from 1946 to 1949) team who won the NBA Finals at the conclusion of each NBA season from 1949 to 1977. Desc ...

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 A commissioner (commonly abbreviated as Comm'r) is, in principle, a member of a commission or an individual who has been given a commission (official charge or authority to do something). In practice, the title of commissioner has evolved to in ...

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 1977 NBA World Championship Series was the championship round of the National Basketball Association (NBA)'s 1976–77 season, and the culmination of the season's playoffs. The Western Conference champion Portland Trail Blazers played agai ...

. The inaugural winners were the Portland Trail Blazers, who defeated

Philadelphia 76ers The Philadelphia 76ers, colloquially known as the Sixers, are an American professional basketball team based in the Philadelphia metropolitan area. The 76ers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eas ...

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

Philip F. Anschutz Trophy The Philip F. Anschutz Trophy is a silver trophy that is awarded to winners of MLS Cup. Since the inaugural MLS Cup in 1996, three trophies have been used: the Alan I. Rothenberg Trophy from 1996 to 1998, a second version of the Rothenberg Tro ...

, awarded annually to the winning team of the MLS's MLS Cup 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 The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Lakers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. The Lakers play their ...

1983 The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to Internet protocol suite, TCP/IP is officially completed (this is consid ...

. 125px, Original trophy design used from 1977-2021. 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 The Boston Celtics ( ) are an American professional basketball team based in Boston. The Celtics compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Atlantic Division. Founded in 1946 as one of t ...

were the inaugural winners of the renamed trophy, defeating the

in seven games in the

1984 NBA Finals The 1984 NBA World Championship Series was the championship round of the National Basketball Association (NBA)'s 1983–84 season, and the culmination of the season's playoffs. The Eastern Conference champion Boston Celtics defeated the Weste ...

. Coming along a series of redesigned awards as part of its 75th anniversary season, the trophy design has been changed again. 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 Stanley Cup (french: La Coupe Stanley) is the championship trophy awarded annually to the National Hockey League (NHL) playoff champion. It is the oldest existing trophy to be awarded to a professional sports franchise in North America, an ...

. The top disc shows the league's first 75 championship teams from

1947 It was the first year of the Cold War, which would last until 1991, ending with the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Events January * January–February – Winter of 1946–47 in the United Kingdom: The worst snowfall in the country in ...

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 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 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 The Houston Rockets are an American professional basketball team based in Houston. The Rockets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member team of the league's Western Conference Southwest Division. The team plays its ho ...

from Leslie Alexander to

Tilman Fertitta Tilman Joseph Fertitta (born 1957) is an American billionaire businessman and television personality. He is the chairman, CEO, and owner of Landry's, Inc. He also owns the National Basketball Association (NBA)'s Houston Rockets. Fertitta is ch ...

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 Richard Petruška (born January 25, 1969) is a Slovak-Italian former professional basketball player and coach. He was born in Levice, Czechoslovakia. At a height of 6'10" (2.08 m) tall, and a weight of 260 lbs. (118 kg), he played at the power ...

during the celebration), which were publicly unveiled on September 20, 2018.

Promotion

Although the Larry O'Brien Trophy has been compared with the National Hockey League's Stanley Cup, it has never been as prominent as the NHL trophy. To reduce this discrepancy, the NBA has been actively promoting the O'Brien Trophy in recent years to generate more recognition and an iconic status for the trophy. The trophy appeared on past logos for the

. After the Detroit Pistons won the NBA Finals in 2004, the trophy was toured around the state of Michigan, marking the first time the trophy toured around the state of the winning team. In 2005, the NBA Legends Tour was launched in New York City. As part of the tour, the O’Brien Trophy was showcased in various cities—including those that were hosting the playoffs—for fans' autograph and photo sessions. It was escorted by many former players, including Julius Erving, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Bill Russell. In May 2007, the NBA unveiled the NBA Headquarters on Second Life, an Internet-based virtual reality environment. With this launch, fans could take pictures with the championship trophy in the virtual Toyota Larry O'Brien Trophy Room. In August, the trophy traveled to Hong Kong for the first time as part of the NBA Madness Asia Tour.

By franchise

This table lists the teams that have won the Larry O' Brien Championship Trophy since it was introduced in 1977. It includes trophies awarded before it was renamed in 1984. For a complete history of NBA championship teams, see '' List of NBA champions''.

References

External links