December 14, 2022, 8:01 AM
December 14, 2022, 8:01 AM
The NBA will rename its annual regular season Most Valuable Player (MVP) award in honor of Michael Jordanwho bagged the scroll five times with the Chicago Bulls.
The league unveiled the Michael Jordan Trophy on Tuesday, along with five other reimagined trophies named after the league’s pioneers. and which will now be given to the winners of the NBA’s end-of-season awards.
The NBA Champion of Social Justice award is named after Abdul-Jabbar.
Other renowned awards announced Tuesday are the Hakeem Olajuwon Trophy for Defensive Player of the Year; the Wilt Chamberlain Trophy for Rookie of the Year; the John Havlicek Trophy for Sixth Man of the Year and the George Mikan Trophy for Most Improved Player.
The NBA also announced a new Clutch Player of the Year award, named after Jerry West, who played in nine NBA Finals and remains the only player to win Finals MVP and lose the series.
The new Michael Jordan trophy was created with input from the NBA icon, who requested that it not look like him.
Features a player climbing off a rock to reach a glass basketball and includes elements reflecting Jordan’s career, including references to his jersey number 23 and his six NBA titles.
Previously, the league’s Most Valuable Player trophy was named after former commissioner Maurice Podoloff. That scroll will now be attached to a new trophy honoring the team that posts the best regular season record.
