The NBA has made a bold move and decided to rename all the awards that they currently hand out at the end of the season. We knew that the Finals MVP award is known as the Bill Russell award, the All-Star Game MVP wins the Kobe Bryant award, and the best players of the Conference Finals get an award named after Larry Bird and Magic Johnson.
A major reshuffle has just taken place as the NBA has renamed every single one of their current regular-season awards after legends of the game. Most notably, the MVP award is now the Michael Jordan award.
The NBA revealed that the trophy was designed in a creative partnership between Jordan and Mark Smith, a retired VP of Innovation Special Projects at Nike, Inc., and a Jordan Brand designer. Smith discussed the process of crafting the new trophy alongside MJ.
The Michael Jordan Trophy – Awarded to the Kia NBA Most Valuable Player
The league’s MVP will now be awarded The Michael Jordan Trophy, bearing the name of the NBA legend widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time. During his career, Jordan was MVP five times. pic.twitter.com/cWvKXSeQxN
— NBA Communications (@NBAPR) December 13, 2022
“I’m incredibly honored to have created the NBA’s MVP trophy in partnership with Michael Jordan,” said Smith. “Sculpting Michael’s vision of his own pursuit of athletic achievement into this award has been the opportunity and challenge of a lifetime. As we worked together on this project, it was very important to Michael that the figure not be a likeness of him, but instead that the recipient should be able to see himself in the award. For Michael, naming the award in his honor was recognition enough.” (h/t NBA Communication)
The MJ award will be a beacon of excellence in the NBA. However, many have brought up whether the trophy should’ve been named after someone else.
Was There A Better Option That Michael Jordan?
It’s obvious that MJ stands ahead of almost every single NBA player in terms of his impact on the game, so the most significant award of the season should be named after him. But there is an argument for Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who is about to lose the all-time scoring record and won the most MVPs in league history with 6.
Many have also wondered whether an award will be named after LeBron James. LeBron is a 4-time MVP and currently an active player, so it would be tough for them to name an award after him while he was still playing. This has reignited the inevitable MJ vs. LeBron debate.
It will be even weirder if LeBron somehow wins MVP at this stage in his career to win the MJ award for the fifth time, tying Jordan on that pedestal as well. For now, there is no better choice than Michael Jordan himself.
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