Larry O'Brien Championship Trophy
The Larry O’Brien Championship Trophy is the championship trophy awarded annually by the National Basketball Association to the winner of the NBA Finals. The trophy originally kept the Walter A. Brown Trophy name of its predecessor until being renamed in 1984.
The trophy, depicting a basketball over a hoop and basket, was first awarded in 1977, which was then known under its original name as Walter A. Brown Trophy. The name of the trophy was changed in 1984 to honor former NBA commissioner 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 inaugural winners were the Portland Trail Blazers, who defeated the Philadelphia 76ers 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 Vince Lombardi Trophy, awarded annually to the winning team of the NFL's Super Bowl 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 in 1983.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 were the inaugural winners of the renamed trophy, defeating the Los Angeles Lakers in seven games in the 1984 NBA Finals.
As part of a series of redesigned awards as part of its 75th anniversary season, the trophy design was once again changed. The most notable change is two discs replacing the square foundation of the previous design. Victor Solomon, the designer of the new trophy, had designed it with a round base as he thought the former square base awkward to hold and prop the trophy upon in the hand. The two discs also function as the metal bands of the National Hockey League 's Stanley Cup do. The top disc displays the league's first 75 championship teams from 1947 to 2021, while the bottom disc will contain 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.
Use in NBA Finals
From the 2004–05 to 2008–09 season, the NBA used a painted version of the O'Brien trophy on the center of the court during the NBA Finals. The trophy was featured for the 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2009 NBA Finals before being removed, with players citing the slipperiness of the trophy and other decals.In 2025, after significant public backlash for the O'Brien trophy missing at center court during the 2025 NBA Finals and use of a digital hologram of the trophy, NBA commissioner Adam Silver announced the return of the O'Brien trophy at center court, alongside the Finals script logo, with its official return being the 2026 NBA Finals.