The NBA is renaming its annual regular season MVP award after Michael Jordan, the player who topped ESPN’s rankings for the NBA’s 75th anniversary team who was named last season.
The league unveiled the newly designed Michael Jordan Trophy on Tuesday, along with five other reimagined trophies named after the league’s pioneers.
Jordan won MVP five times during his 15-season career. Only Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, whose champion award is named after the League’s Social Justice, has won more MVP trophies (six).
Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic will retroactively receive the first version of the new trophy after being named MVP last season.
In addition to the Jordan Trophy, other awards that have been renamed are:
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Hakeem Olajuwon Trophy for Defensive Player of the Year
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Rookie of the Year Wilt Chamberlain Trophy
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John Havlicek Trophy for Sixth Man of the Year
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The George Mikan Trophy is given to the most improved player.
Olajuwon was named to the All-Defensive Team nine times and was named Defensive Player of the Year in 1993 and 1994. Havlicek had a career that predated the creation of the 1982-83 Sixth Man of the Year Award, but he was an 11-time All-His NBA selection despite being off the bench for several seasons. . Mikan is widely regarded as the league’s first superstar, Minneapolis.He led the Lakers to his five championship titles in his 1940s and his 1950s.
The league also announced a new award for Clutch Player of the Year, named after Jerry West, the only player to win Finals MVP while appearing in nine Finals and losing the series.
The new trophy update is part of a multi-year project to reimagine many of the NBA’s most important awards. Last season, the NBA unveiled a renewed Larry O’Brien Championship Trophy, a new Conference Championship Trophy named after Oscar Robertson and Bob Cousy, and a Conference Finals MVP Trophy named after Magic Johnson and Larry Bird. did.
“Our new trophy collection honors some of the greatest and most influential players in NBA history,” NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said in a statement. While recognizing top performers, we also honor the legends who embody these prestigious awards.”
The Michael Jordan Trophy depicts an NBA player leaping off a rock and reaching the ultimate rock: a crystal basketball. Previously, the league’s MVP trophy was named after former commissioner Maurice Podoloff, but the name will instead go to the new trophy honoring the team that posted the best regular season record for him.
A statement from the NBA said the new trophy has been polished from bottom to top “from raw to sophisticated”, demonstrating the MVP’s hard work and his highest personal accolades since joining the NBA. It represents progress to
Former Nike Innovation Special Projects VP and Jordan Brand designer Mark Smith has formed a creative partnership with Jordan to design a new trophy with several details intended to honor specific elements of Jordan’s heritage. Did. The trophy is his 23.6 inches tall, representing Jordan’s jersey number (23) and his number of NBA championships (6).
The trophy’s five-sided base pays tribute to Jordan’s five league MVPs, while the crystal basketball on top consists of 23 points and measures 1.23 inches in diameter.
All new trophies, with the exception of the Jordan Trophy, were designed in collaboration with Victor Solomon, who redesigned the NBA’s championship trophy last season. All individual award trophies are embedded within a 15 inch crystal net structure. The front is flat, allowing direct viewing of the icons, and the bottom is detailed with the winners and winners etched.
“While working with the NBA to reimagine the league’s trophy offerings, our sole goal is to create a cohesive collection of accolades befitting the athletes who nurtured them,” Solomon said in a statement. “These trophies honor the NBA legends who defined that greatness while also celebrating the hard work of the players who have reached the pinnacle of individual excellence.”
