The NBA announced on Thursday that it is expanding its universe of annual hardware awarded to the best of the best in the Eastern and Western Conference semifinals at the individual and team levels along. With it comes a minor reboot of the appearance of the coveted Larry O’Brien trophy for winning the 2022 NBA title and the Finals Most Valuable Player (MVP) trophy, named for Boston Celtics legend Bill Russell.
Two of the four new awards bear the names of Boston legends to join Russell’s Finals MVP, with the league creating conference finals awards named for Los Angeles Lakers legend Magic Johnson (West), and for Celtics icon Larry Bird (East).
The NBA will also award a conference champion trophy to the top team from each conference, with the West being named after Milwaukee Bucks champion Oscar Robertson (the Bucks were in the West in his era) and Boston point guard luminary Bob Cousy.
Boston’s Jayson Tatum comes in sixth in 2022 Kia Most Valuable Player award https://t.co/0zijFBD1hp
— The Celtics Wire (@TheCelticsWire) May 12, 2022
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Let’s take a look at the new trophies.