Tiffany & Co. and Victor Solomon Redesign NBA Championship and MVP Trophies
For the first time in 45 years, the Larry O'Brien Trophy has been revamped thanks to Tiffany & Co. and artist Victor Solomon. The trophy has been manufactured and designed by Tiffany & Co. since 1977, representing a long-lasting relationship between the American luxury house and the NBA. Victor Solomon describes this historic collaboration as "celebrating basketball as a vehicle for ascension and reimagining its icons in lux materials and techniques."
The NBA's championship trophy has been named after the league's third commissioner Larry O'Brien since 1984. The iconic trophy lifted by decades of NBA legends has received its first facelift since being renamed in the 1980s. The net and ball configuration on the top of the trophy has been shifted forward, symbolizing the league looking ahead to its future. Two discs have been added to the base of the trophy, with the top one listing the first 75 NBA champions. Like the NHL's Stanley Cup Trophy, the name of each NBA champion will be etched on the bottom disc of each year's trophy. The NBA Finals MVP award, named after Bill Russell since 2009, is finished in gold vermeil to match the additions made to the Larry O'Brien Trophy.
The NBA named its conference championship trophies after legends Bob Cousy and Oscar Robertson. Both have had incredible careers on the court and off the court as early presidents of the National Basketball Players Association. Similar to the original Eastern and Western Conference Champion trophies, the Bob Cousy and Oscar Robertson trophies each raise a sterling silver basketball sliced into four sections. Each section represents the team's battles, from making the Playoffs, winning the First Round, winning the Conference Semifinals, and taking the crown as conference champion.
The NBA Conference Finals MVP trophies have been named after 1980s East vs. West rivalry faces Larry Bird and Earvin "Magic" Johnson. Both legends are synonymous with NBA greatness and helped elevate the league to new heights with both of their roles in their team's success. Each trophy raises a sterling silver ball, similar to the conference champion trophies. The trophy also bears a gold vermeil net, replicating the Finals MVP trophy.
Victor Solomon cites the "vastness of the opportunity" as both this project's "challenge and excitement." "While everyone has a connection with what a trophy symbolizes, there're no real rules about what a trophy has to be," he mentions. Solomon adds, "I think that creating something that our players love has been priority 1 - then maybe setting precedent for what's possible for a trophy collection 2, and I guess we'll see what happens with the rest."
