You’ve seen it a thousand times. Every June, a group of exhausted, sweat-drenched giants huddle around a golden basketball frozen in mid-flight. They cry over it. They pour expensive champagne on it. Sometimes, they even take it to a local diner for breakfast the next morning. But if you asked the average fan for the Larry O'Brien Trophy by name, you’d probably get a blank stare or a "you mean the championship thingy?"
It’s kind of funny. The Stanley Cup is a celebrity in its own right, and the Lombardi is a household name, yet the NBA’s ultimate prize often lives in a weird sort of anonymity.
Honestly, that’s a shame. The Larry O'Brien Trophy is more than just a 29-pound hunk of gold-plated silver. It’s a piece of history that has survived mergers, redesigns, and a massive identity shift in the early 80s.
The Name of the NBA Championship Trophy Wasn't Always Larry
Most people assume it’s always been named after Larry. It hasn't. For the first few decades of the league's existence, the hardware was known as the Walter A. Brown Trophy.
Walter Brown was the original owner of the Boston Celtics and a massive figure in getting the BAA and NBL to merge into the NBA we know today. Back then, the rules were different. You didn't get to keep the trophy. It was like a library book—you won it, you kept it for a year, and then you handed it over to the next guy.
The Celtics held onto it for eight straight years during the 60s, which makes sense because they never lost. But in 1977, the league decided it was time for a makeover. They commissioned Tiffany & Co. to design something new, though they kept the "Walter A. Brown" name for a few more years.
It wasn't until 1984 that things changed for good. Larry O'Brien was retiring as commissioner. He had just overseen the ABA-NBA merger and landed the TV deals that basically saved the league from going bankrupt. To honor him, the NBA slapped his name on the trophy.
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The first team to hoist the newly minted Larry O'Brien Trophy? The 1984 Boston Celtics. It’s almost poetic that the team founded by Walter Brown was the first to win the Larry.
Why it Looks Different Now
If you look closely at photos of Steph Curry holding the trophy in 2022 versus Michael Jordan holding it in 1998, you’ll notice it’s not quite the same.
In 2022, for the league's 75th anniversary, they brought in artist Victor Solomon to give it a "refresh." It’s actually heavier now. It used to weigh about 14.5 pounds; now it’s a beefy 29 pounds. It stands about 25.5 inches tall.
They changed the base, too. It used to be a square block, which Solomon thought was awkward for players to hold. Now it’s two stacked discs. The top disc lists the first 75 champions, and the bottom disc has enough room for the next 25 years of winners.
The basketball on top—which is regulation size, by the way—is also tilted forward now. The league says it’s to symbolize "looking toward the future," but practically speaking, it just looks more aerodynamic.
The Tiffany Connection
Every single Larry O'Brien Trophy is handmade at the Tiffany & Co. workshop in Cumberland, Rhode Island. They use sterling silver and then douse the whole thing in 24-karat gold vermeil.
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It takes about six or seven months to finish one. Unlike the Stanley Cup, where there’s only one "real" one that travels around, the NBA makes a brand-new Larry every single year. The team gets to keep it forever. They put it in a glass case in the arena lobby and hire security guards to make sure nobody touches the gold.
What Most Fans Miss About Larry O'Brien
Larry O'Brien himself wasn't even a basketball guy originally. He was a political heavyweight.
He was a top advisor to JFK and LBJ. He was the Postmaster General. He was even the chairman of the Democratic National Committee during the Watergate break-in.
Basically, the guy who gave the Larry O'Brien Trophy its name was a political shark who took those skills and used them to force professional basketball into the mainstream. Without him, the NBA might still be playing in half-empty high school gyms instead of billion-dollar arenas.
How to Value a Larry (If You Could Buy One)
You can't really buy one, obviously. But if you broke it down by its materials, the "melt value" is usually estimated somewhere between $13,000 and $20,000.
But that's just the metal. The historical value is insane. A few years ago, a replica belonging to a former player went up for auction and fetched way more than its weight in gold.
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One weird detail: if a trophy gets damaged, the team has to pay for the repairs or a replacement. There’s a famous story about the 1994 Houston Rockets accidentally dropping theirs and denting it. They had to commission Tiffany to make a replica because the original looked like it had been in a car wreck.
The Ritual of the Hoist
There is a very specific "vibe" to the trophy presentation. Since 2005, the Bill Russell Trophy is given to the Finals MVP first, but the Larry O'Brien Trophy is the main event.
It’s usually carried out by a legend—think Julius Erving or Kareem Abdul-Jabbar—wearing white gloves. They treat it like a religious relic. Then the commissioner hands it to the owner, not the players. That’s a bit of a point of contention for some fans who think the captain should get it first, but that’s the NBA tradition.
If you want to see the trophy in person without winning a championship, your best bet is the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts. They usually have the official one on display during the off-season.
Otherwise, you’re stuck watching it on TV, watching a 7-foot tall millionaire treat it like his firstborn child.
To truly appreciate the Larry O'Brien Trophy, you have to look past the shine. It’s a 50-year-old design that bridges the gap between the gritty, tape-delayed era of the 70s and the global juggernaut the NBA is today. It’s a piece of art that requires 240 hours of manual labor to create, and it’s the only thing in the world that can make a grown man like Kevin Garnett scream "Anything is possible!" at the top of his lungs.
Practical Tips for NBA Fans
If you're ever at an NBA arena, check the "Trophy Case" usually located near the main entrance or the team store. Most franchises display their Larry O'Brien Trophy collection there. Take a close look at the base—if it’s the newer model, you can actually see the engravings of every champion from 1947 to now. It's a great way to brush up on your league history while waiting for your $15 nachos. Also, keep an eye on the NBA's social channels during the playoffs; they often run a "Trophy Tour" where they bring the hardware to local fan fests, giving you a chance for a selfie without having to average 30 points per game.
Next Steps for Your NBA Knowledge:
- Research the 2022 redesign by Victor Solomon to see the specific artistic choices made for the 75th Anniversary.
- Look up the "Walter A. Brown Trophy" to compare how the original traveling trophy looked compared to today's gold-plated version.
- Visit the official NBA website's history section to see the full list of winners engraved on the current trophy's base.