The NBA is changing its postseason awards and adding more hardware for its superstars to win.
There is still one prize that is bigger than the rest: the Larry O’Brien trophy that is given to the team that wins the NBA Finals.
However, there are now other prizes that can be claimed.
The NBA has tweaked the design of the Larry O'Brien and Bill Russell Finals MVP trophies.
The league has added conference finals MVP awards starting this season.
And 4 legends – Oscar Robertson, Bob Cousy, Larry Bird and Magic Johnson – now have their name on playoff hardware. pic.twitter.com/i2YZcthNbL
— Tim Reynolds (@ByTimReynolds) May 12, 2022
The league has now added conference finals MVP awards for the first time.
The champions from the Western Conference will get the Oscar Robertson trophy while the Eastern winners get the Bob Cousy trophy.
Meanwhile, the Eastern Conference Finals MVP receives the Larry Bird trophy while the Western Conference Finals MVP goes home with the Magic Johnson trophy.
The league has also made a few other changes to the Larry O’Brien trophy, making it more attractive to the eventual champs.
Going For The Gold
Along with the new trophies, the league has also added some more features to the Finals trophy.
The top disc of the trophy now lists the first 75 NBA champions.
Starting this year, the name of each NBA champion will be etched on the bottom disc of each new trophy, which will ensure that each team receives a one-of-a-kind trophy.
That’s a cool, unique touch that really does make the award even more special for NBA champions.
It’ll be great to see these new trophies over the next month but it’s still anyone’s guess as to who will win them.
There are a number of teams in the playoffs right now who could go all the way this year.
It’s been a long time since the Finals have been so up in the air.
In the next few days, the playoff picture will get much more focused as the Eastern and Western Conference Finals layout become clear.
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