Larry O'Brien Championship Trophy

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The trophy in the hands of Bill Walton (left) and Jack Ramsay (right) in 1977.

The Larry O'Brien Championship Trophy is the winning trophy of the American professional basketball league NBA . The winner will be determined by the playoffs at the end of each regular season.

History and origin of name

At the beginning of the NBA, the trophy had no name and was just called the NBA Finals Trophy . The first namesake was in 1964 Walter A. Brown , who had contributed significantly to the establishment of the NBA (merger between the Basketball Association of America and the National Basketball League). At that time the trophy was still a kind of challenge cup and was passed on year after year. The trophy was redesigned for the 1977 NBA Finals, but temporarily retained the name Walter A. Brown Trophy .

In 1984 the trophy was named after the third NBA commissioner Larry O'Brien , who held the post from 1975 to 1984. Among other things, through the merger with the American Basketball Association and the first contract with a cable television provider, the NBA made a big step forward under his leadership. The league became the pioneer of American professional leagues in terms of TV broadcasting. In 1991, O'Brien was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame .

meaning

Although the trophy has often been compared to the famous Stanley Cup - the NHL's winning trophy - it never achieved its public status. To change that, the NBA began promoting the trophy and making it better known. After the 2004 NBA Finals, the trophy "toured" the entire US state of Michigan - the home state of the winning team, the Detroit Pistons . In 2005 they went one step further and made an "NBA Legends Tour" out of it. Together with former winners and Hall of Famers such as Julius Erving , Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Bill Russell , the trophy was presented in various major cities - with opportunities for fans to get autographs and take pictures. In the virtual world of Second Life , the headquarters of the NBA were released in 2007, giving fans the chance to take photos with the trophy in the Toyoto Larry O'Brien Trophy Room . In August of the same year the trophy left the USA for the first time and was exhibited in Hong Kong as part of the NBA Madness Asia Tour .

design

Walter A Brown Trophy

The trophy is approx. 60 cm high, weighs approx. 6.5 kg and is made of sterling silver . The surface is covered with gold-plated silver. According to the NBA, the material value is approximately $ 13,500. The trophy is made by the American jeweler Tiffany & Co. The winning teams are allowed to keep and display the trophy after it has been handed over. A new trophy is thus produced every year, with the winning team and the year of the title being engraved in advance.

After the redesign in 1977, the trophy is supposed to represent a ball over a basket.

See also

Individual evidence

  1. http://www.docsports.com/nba-finals-trophy.html
  2. Archived copy ( memento of the original dated August 31, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.hoophall.com
  3. https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D06E0D81630F93AA35755C0A9629C8B63
  4. http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2004-04/15/content_323502.htm
  5. http://www.michigandaily.com/content/trophy-tour
  6. Archived copy ( memento of the original from March 25, 2012 on WebCite ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.nba.com
  7. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0EIN/is_2007_May_1/ai_n27220810
  8. http://www.dhl.com.hk/publish/hk/en/press/Release_HK/2007/17_08_2007.high.html
  9. http://mentalfloss.com/article/502903/20-people-you-didnt-know-were-southpaws
  10. http://www.nba.com/lakers/news/trophy_020712.html
  11. https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1384&dat=19770516&id=FG4WAAAAIBAJ&sjid=KBMEAAAAIBAJ&pg=2411,3152279