The NBA revamped its awards to rename and redesign trophies after some of the best players in league history.
When the NBA announced a new trophy earlier this month named after Maurice Podoloff that would be given to the team with the best regular season record at the end of each year, it made sense that the league was about to revamp even more awards. Podoloff, who served as president of the NBA from 1949-1963, had always had his name on the MVP trophy.
The NBA unveiled the next wave of its awards overhaul on Tuesday in a project that redesigns the league’s major trophies while renaming them after some of the greatest players in league history. The announcement includes one brand new award: The Jerry West Trophy, awarded to the NBA Clutch Player of the Year.
The rebranding of the MVP award will draw most of the headlines. The MVP winner will now get the Michael Jordan Trophy, in a move that renames the league’s top individual award for its greatest player of all-time. Here’s the full list of new awards:
The Michael Jordan Trophy: Awarded to the NBA Most Valuable Player
The Jerry West Trophy: Awarded to the NBA Clutch Player of the Year
The Hakeem Olajuwon Trophy: Awarded to the NBA Defensive Player of the Year
The Wilt Chamberlain Trophy: Awarded to the NBA Rookie of the Year
The John Havlicek Trophy: Awarded to the NBA Sixth Man of the Year
The George Mikan Trophy: Awarded to the NBA Most Improved Player of the Year
The NBA had previously announced the Joe Dumars Trophy for sportsmanship, the Twyman-Stokes Trophy for the NBA’s best teammate, the Red Auerbach Trophy for Coach of the Year, and the Maurice Podoloff Trophy for the league’s best regular season team.
The trophies don’t just have new names: they also have new designs. Here’s a look at each of them.
The Michael Jordan Trophy for NBA MVP
The Michael Jordan MVP Trophy just has a nice ring to it, doesn’t it? MJ won five MVP awards during his legendary career, with the first coming in 1987-1988 and the last coming in 1997-1998. Don’t get me started on the MVPs Charles Barkley and Karl Malone stole from Jordan. He should have had seven MVPs, at minimum.
Mark Smith, a retired Nike and Jordan Brand designer, worked with Jordan to create the new trophy. Here’s what the NBA says: “The bronze trophy features a player breaking out of a rock to reach for the ultimate rock — a crystal basketball.” Read additional details about the trophy at the NBA’s Instagram account.
The Jerry West Trophy for NBA Clutch Player of the Year
The West award will “honor the NBA player who best comes through for his teammates in the clutch.” NBA coaches will nominate players, and a media panel will vote on the winner.
The trophy depicts West’s iconic jump shot inside a 15-inch crystal net structure. West, whose silhouette is already the NBA logo, was known as “Mr. Clutch” during his Hall of Fame playing career with the Lakers. Here’s a video on some of West’s greatest clutch moments:
The Hakeem Olajuwon Trophy for NBA Defensive Player of the Year
Most people associate Olajuwon with an offensive move — the “Dream Shake” that tortured NBA defenders in the post throughout the 90s — but he was an incredible defensive player, too. Olajuwon was a two-time Defensive Player of the Year, and a nine-time All-Defensive Team selection. He’s also the league’s all-time leader in blocks at 3,830.
Olajuwon is one of the great centers in league history, and this is a nice honor commemorating his career. “The trophy features a player in a classic defensive stance with one hand up and one down, knees bent and ready to move,” according to the NBA.
The Wilt Chamberlain Trophy for NBA Rookie of the Year
All Wilt Chamberlain did in his rookie season in the NBA was average 37.6 points and 27 rebounds per game while winning both the Rookie of the Year and MVP awards. Chamberlain is a four-time MVP, a two-champion, and has a case as the greatest prospect in league history.
Chamberlain’s 100-point game, recorded in March of 1962, survives as perhaps the league’s most unbreakable record. He was a tour de force in every way. Naming the Rookie of the Year award after him is a great way to honor his legacy as a player who was completely dominant from his first day in the league.
The John Havlicek Trophy for NBA Sixth Man of the Year
Coming off the bench didn’t stop John Havlicek from becoming one of the first powerhouse guards in league history. Havlicek came off the bench for the Boston Celtics in his first seven seasons, earning four All-Star nods in the process. Havlicek finished with eight NBA championships in his career, playing a key role on a Boston Celtics dynasty in the 1960s and 1970s captained by the great Bill Russell.
The trophy features a player hitting a running jump shot.
The George Mikan Trophy for NBA Most Improved Player
The pride of Joliet, Illinois, Mikan was the league’s true first superstar. He was already established as a great player when the NBA played its inaugural season in 1949–50, and led his Minneapolis Lakers to the league’s first ever championship by averaging more than 31 points per game throughout the playoffs. He is known as one of the most fundamental inside scorers in league history.
