The change is now. After the first changes made last season (notably on the famous Larry O’Brien Trophy), the NBA decided to give a facelift to its main trophies by renaming them to honor some of the greatest players in history. Spoiler, the MVP will become the Michael Jordan Trophy.
When it comes to showcasing its legends, the NBA knows how to do it. And one of the best ways to do this is to rename the most prestigious individual trophies in the League in honor of those who symbolize them the most. MVP, Defender of the Year, Rookie of the Year, Most Improved Player, Sixth Man, all these awards are now associated with a legend of the game.
The NBA is redesigning and renaming many of its individual awards.
The MVP is named following Jordan
The DPOY is named following Olajuwon
The ROY is named following Wilt
The MIP is named following Mikan
The 6th Man is named following Havlicek
And there’s a new Clutch award named following Jerry West pic.twitter.com/Y3HFo2qkYm— Kirk Goldsberry (@kirkgoldsberry) December 13, 2022
For the MVP, it is therefore Michael Jordan who was chosen, he who is often considered the GOAT and winner of this award five times (sorry Kareem Abdul-Jabbar). Hakeem Olajuwon was selected for the Defender of the Year trophy (winning twice in a row in 1993 and 1994), while Wilt Chamberlain was associated with Rookie of the Year to honor his enormous NBA debut ( 37 points, 27 rebounds average, oklm). The NBA also wanted to highlight George Mikan through the MIP, the former pivot of the 1950s being considered the League’s first superstar, as well as John Havlicek for the Sixth Man trophy, the Celtics legend having magnificently occupied this role during the Boston dynasty.
So new names, new designs too, and even a new trophy. always according to ESPNthe NBA actually took the opportunity to add an additional reward: the Clutch Award, which logically becomes the Jerry West Trophy. The Lakers (and NBA Logo) legend was effectively nicknamed Mister Clutch for his many late game exploits.
So, your opinion on all these changes? And above all, has the NBA chosen the right players to represent all these trophies?
___
Source texte : ESPN
