As one of the most accomplished stars in NBA history, Michael Jordan is often regarded as the greatest star of all time in basketball. Recently, the NBA officially announced that one of the league's most important individual awards, the regular season MVP, was named the Michael Jordan Cup, and launched a new MVP trophy designed by Jordan himself. The media generally believes that this is a further confirmation of Jordan's historical status by the NBA.
Throughout the global sporting world, many of the most important awards are named after the event's name, both as a tribute to legends and as an inspiration to future generations. Since the NBA celebrated its 75th anniversary last season, the NBA has embarked on a comprehensive upgrade of its honor system, the core of which is to introduce a series of newly designed trophies in batches and name the awards after some of the greatest legendary stars in NBA history. According to incomplete statistics from Big Sports, at least 25 major NBA awards have been redesigned or set for the first time in the past two years. This work began with the All-Star Game MVP Bryant Cup and culminated in the regular season MVP trophy Jordan Cup, and along the way, the NBA honor system upgrade project won overall praise.
In the eyes of the big sports business, the brilliant honor upgrade work not only adds more unique property rights and spiritual connotations to the event, but also creates a business story of cross-border interaction between the world's first-class jewelry companies and well-known designers through these awards. Even from the perspective of sports business logic alone, the honor system upgrade project of sports IP has three major commercial potential directions:
First, when the influence of the award is large enough, both the design and the post-packaging of the award can be jointly interacted with jewelry brands and well-known designers to achieve the circle-breaking communication and brand upgrade of the event. For example, the champion cup Hercules Cup of the football World Cup, just the box containing the trophy needs to be separately invested, the fashion luxury brand LV (Louis Vuitton) is responsible for creating an exclusive commemorative trophy box for it, each World Cup LV will also arrange signed supermodels to escort the trophy box to enter, before the opening of this World Cup, LV even invited Messi and Ronaldo "in the same frame" for LV's trophy box to shoot posters, which was a World Cup marketing story for a while.
Second, the redesigned packaging of the award is high-end, which can attract title sponsors to title the award. For example, the NBA's current awards are named by the car brand Kia, and some of the trophies after this upgrade have the Kia logo on them.
Third, when the number of awards is large enough to form an honor system, the league's awards can be made into independent IP and the Oscar ceremony of the industry, thereby creating more attention, topicality and commercial value. For example, the NBA has held a grand NBA annual awards ceremony after the season since 2017.
NBA multi-batch optimization award trophy system, Jordan, Kobe Bryant naming awards are the most praised
As one of the most influential sports IPs in the world, the NBA has always been exemplary in the construction of the honor system, from the daily evaluation of various awards in the league to the retirement of jerseys for legendary stars, erection of statues, and naming awards, the NBA not only pays tribute to legends, increases the topicality and media attention of the league, but also comprehensively enhances the historical heritage and brand weight of the league. Globally, the NBA's award philosophy, award names, and award selection methods have also been widely imitated by other leagues.
Last season, with the important milestone of the 75th anniversary as the starting point, the NBA not only selected the 75 superstars of history, but also launched a comprehensive upgrade of the league's honor system, redesigning and naming a series of awards and trophies in batches, according to the incomplete statistics of the sports business, at least 25 important trophies were redesigned, named or set for the first time.
The first to be redesigned was the NBA All-Star Game trophy. The award was named the Kobe Bryant Trophy after Kobe's death in 2020, and Bryant won the All-Star MVP four times during his playing days, the most awarded player in history (tied with Bob Pettit, both four times), and it is naturally most appropriate to name the award after Kobe. In February 2022, the NBA announced that well-known designer Victor Solomon (Victor Solomon) redesigned a new All-Star MVP trophy full of Kobe Bryant's commemorative elements, and Curry, who scored 50 points in the 2022 All-Star Game, became the first All-Star MVP to win a new trophy.
When Curry lifted the magnificent Kobe Cup, the legendary attributes and unique design of the Kobe Cup naturally received widespread praise, which undoubtedly made a good start for the upgrading of the NBA awards. Also redesigned in the same batch as the All-Star MVP trophy are the All-Star Rookie Game MVP, Skill Challenge, Three-Point Contest, and Slam Dunk Contest winner trophies.
After the launch of the Kobe Cup, the NBA released a series of newly designed NBA series trophies in batches, named after NBA legends. Among the eye-catching trophy series: In May 2022, the NBA teamed up with luxury jewelry brand Tiffany and designer Victor Solomon to launch a newly designed NBA championship trophy, Finals MVP trophy, East-West Final winner trophy, East-West Final MVP trophy.
Among them, the Eastern Conference championship trophy was named the Bob Cousy Cup for the first time, the Western Conference championship trophy was named the Oscar-Robertson Cup, the Eastern Conference Finals MVP was named the Larry Bird Cup, the Western Conference Finals MVP was named the Elvin Magic-Johnson Cup, the East-West MVP Award was set for the first time, as for the NBA championship trophy, the Finals MVP trophy, and the East-West championship trophy were all adjusted and replaced by materials on the basis of the original design, and the overall visual effect was more luxurious and splendid.
Since then, in mid-May, the NBA announced for the first time a new award social justice award to recognize NBA players who have made outstanding contributions to social justice and racial equity, this award is named after the NBA's all-time scoring champion Abdul-Jabbar, who is passionate about public welfare activities, and the full name is "Kareem Abdul Abdul-Jabbar Social Justice Champion Award".
On December 7, 2022, the NBA launched the newly designed NBA Sportsmanship Award (Joe Dumas Cup), Coach of the Year Award (Auerbach Cup), Teammate of the Year Award (Tweiman Stokes Cup), Regular Season Team of the Year Award (Maurice Podolov Award), and Executive of the Year Award. Among them, the regular season team of the year award is the first new award. Morris Podoloff, the first NBA director who led the NBA from scratch, was originally used to name the regular season MVP award, but was instead named the Best Regular Season Team award, which makes people realize that the NBA may be looking for a new name for the regular season MVP. Since then, it has been widely speculated that the regular season MVP is likely to be named the Jordan Cup.
Sure enough, a week later, on December 13, the NBA launched six new regular season MVP awards (Michael Jordan Cup), Mr. Key Award (Jerry West Cup), Best Defensive Player Award (Olajuwon Cup), Best Rookie Award (Chamberlain Cup), Best Sixth Man (Havlicek Cup) and Most Improved Player Award (George McCann Cup). Among them, the regular season MVP trophy was named the Jordan Cup, which was jointly designed by Mark Smith, retired vice president of innovation at Nike, and Jordan himself.
This bronze trophy is shaped like an athlete stepping on a rock beneath his feet to touch a crystal basketball high above. The trophy pays homage to Jordan's brilliant NBA career in many details: 1. The trophy is 23.6 inches tall and weighs 23.6 pounds, representing Jordan's jersey number (number 23) and the number of championships he has won (six). 2. The base has five sides, symbolizing that Jordan has won 5 regular season MVPs in his career. 3. The eponymous badge of the hexagon, which is a tribute to Jordan's 6-time championship in his career. 4. The base is tilted 15 degrees, symbolizing Jordan's 15-year career. 5. The crystal basketball at height has 23 faces, representing Jordan's jersey number.
6. The diameter of the crystal basketball is 1.23 inches, symbolizing the uniqueness of MVP and Jordan's legendary career.
To the regret of fans, simply looking at the silhouette of the athlete on this trophy, it is difficult to associate with Jordan himself, because this shape does not use Jordan's classic dunk flying action. In this regard, Nike Innovation Vice President Mark Smith explained: "I am deeply honored to create the NBA MVP trophy with Michael, and when we work on this project together, Michael is particularly important that this character should not be his portrait, but that the winner can see himself in it." For Michael, naming the award after him is already a recognition of him. ”
Looking back at the redesign and transformation of the above award trophies, at least 25 awards have been upgraded, starting with the Kobe Cup, and now the announcement of the Jordan Cup has brought the NBA's award trophy transformation and upgrading project to a climax. In the process of designing and naming this series of trophies, the NBA not only paid tribute to the legends of the past, but also added a lot of topics and attention to the league, and also conducted cross-border business interactions with luxury jewelry brand Tiffany and artist Victor Solomon, which comprehensively enhanced the brand reputation of the NBA, which is undoubtedly a classic case of the upgrade of the honor system of global sports events.
Of course, because some awards are set with crystal shells, the general shape is somewhat similar. For example, the last batch of NBA Sportsmanship Awards (Joe Dumas Cup), Coach of the Year (Auerbach Cup), Teammate of the Year (Tweeman-Stokes Cup), Regular Season Team of the Year (Maurice Podolov Award), Executive of the Year Award, and the most recent batch of Mr. Key Award (Jerry West Cup), Best Defensive Player Award (Olajuwon Cup), Rookie of the Year Award (Chamberlain Cup), The style design and trophy shape of the Best Sixth Man (Havlicek Cup) and the Most Improved Player Award (George McCann Cup) are very consistent, and fans have said that it is difficult to distinguish these trophies, and they prefer the original trophies that are different in shape and can be distinguished at a glance. In particular, the Best Defensive Player Award and the Best Rookie Award are not as eye-catching and tense as the previous trophy shape.
Looking at the world's top sports IP, the creation and upgrading of the honor system has always been directly linked to the gold content and reputation of the event brand. Especially for those sports events with a long history and a thick brand, the upgrade of the honor system such as award redesign and trophy naming is a very rigorous and systematic sports culture project, which requires full research and evaluation, and should be fair and just when paying tribute to legends and selecting trophy names, not easily thick and thin, trophy design concept must keep pace with the times and withstand the test of history, otherwise it is prone to controversy, not only can not promote the upgrade of the league brand, but will weaken the cultural heritage of the league.
NBA regular-season MVPs and championship trophies have historically been named by meritorious executives, and there is an urgent need to keep up with the times
For example, the regular season MVP award was named after the first director of the NBA league, Maurice Podoloff, the championship trophy was named after the third director of the NBA, Larry O'Brien, and the NBA Finals MVP was named after Bill Russell, the most won player in NBA history, in 2009. But at the same time, most NBA awards are not named. As the NBA celebrates its 75th anniversary last season, it's only right to take the opportunity to embark on a comprehensive honor upgrade, which helps highlight and amplify the league's history and sporting culture.
In recent years, many fans have called for the NBA's logo and award design to keep pace with the times. The current logo of the NBA is based on the dribbling silhouette of the superstar of the 60s and "Mr. Key" Jerry West, and fans believe that NBA legends are emerging in an endless stream, and it is possible to design a new logo around the powerful dunk shape of super trapezes such as Jordan, Kobe and James. As for the trophy naming, it should also be named after a modern NBA superstar that fans are more familiar with and has more amazing achievements.
The NBA regular-season MVP award used to be named after the NBA league's first commissioner, Maurice Podolov. Podolov, a lawyer by training, was the first president of the NBA's predecessor, the BAA, which was founded as president of the American Hockey League, and the owners of several BAA teams strongly invited him to be in charge, and the hockey league refused to release him, so he became the first executive in the history of American professional sports to serve as president of two professional leagues at the same time. He helped the BAA poach several strong teams from the NBL, and in 1949 pushed for the BAA and NBL to merge to become the NBA, where he served as NBA commissioner until his retirement in 1963.
During his 17-year career as NBA commissioner, Podolov single-handedly laid all the league mechanics for the NBA's early draft, offensive 24 seconds, etc., and his excellent organizational and management talents are considered to be the key reasons why the NBA survived the changing start years, and the NBA had 17 teams at its peak. When he chose to retire in 1963, the NBA honored him by naming the regular season MVP trophy the Morris-Podolov Cup. Since 1963, the regular season MVP trophy has been named after Maurice Podoloff, and now the NBA has finally decided to rename the regular season MVP with Jordan, the greatest star in NBA history, Jordan has won the award five times in his NBA career, and is the second most awarded regular season MVP award winner in NBA history.
The NBA championship trophy was originally called the Walter Brown Championship Trophy, which is very different from the current Larry O'Brien Trophy in both shape and material, and it is also a liquid trophy, and each championship can be kept for one season. Walter Brown, owner of the Boston Celtics, contributed significantly to the stability and unity of the league in its early days, gave generously on several occasions when the league's finances were in crisis, and was the founder of the NBA All-Star Game. In honor of Walter Brown's team, the Celtics, who won 11 championships in the 13 years between 1957 and 1969, including an unprecedented eight-in-a-row championship, the NBA named the championship trophy the Walter Brown Cup.
In 1977, after a significant improvement in the NBA's financial situation under the leadership of third director Larry O'Brien (1975-1984), the NBA decided to introduce a more extravagant gold trophy, promising that the gold cup would remain forever for the champion of the year, although the trophy name remained Walter Brown. Until Larry O'Brien's retirement in 1984, the NBA decided to rename the championship trophy from the 1984 Finals to the Larry O'Brien Cup in honor of O'Brien's achievements in leading the league out of bankruptcy.
Obviously, looking back at NBA history, the NBA's two most important awards, the regular season MVP and the championship trophy, have been named after executives for a long time, and it is undoubtedly more appropriate to decide to name these awards after Jordan Legends instead, not only to make fans relish, but also the achievements of these legendary stars themselves set the standard for candidates for these awards, helping to motivate future generations to catch up with their predecessors. In 1984, David Stern named the championship trophy after his predecessor Larry O'Brien, and now that Stern has passed away after 30 years at the helm of the NBA portal, will the fifth head Shaw also consider naming some trophies after David Stern in the future?
Sports trophy marketing contains huge commercial potential, and Chinese basketball has become a pioneer in exploring the creation of an honor system
As the commercial value of sports events continues to increase, the honor system such as trophies itself continues to upgrade, whether it is the cost of trophies or the ancillary commercial value. Looking at today's sports world, internationally renowned jewelry brands can be seen behind the trophies of almost all the top sporting events.
For example, football's Ballon d'Or is created by Melerio Jewelry Company (born in 1613, Melerio Jewelry Company is the oldest jewelry manufacturing family business in Europe, famous for creating jewelry for European kings and queens), the Premier League Champions Cup is designed and produced by the British royal jeweler Aspree, and the America's Cup Champions Trophy is made by Garrard (Britain's first official crown jeweler)...
Of course, U.S. sports trophies often choose to partner with luxury jewelry brand Tiffany. The NBA, NFL, MLB and US Open trophies are all designed and produced by Tiffany. With Tiffany's acquisition by Louis Vuitton's (LV) parent company, these trophies began to receive LV custom commemorative boxes. In addition, many sporting events and authorized jewelers will also specialize in producing high-quality trophies and other peripheral derivatives to sell to the fan base.
For example, NBA awards are named by the car brand Kia, and CBA's Player of the Month, Defensive Player of the Month and other awards are also named by league sponsors. Once the number of major awards reaches a sufficient volume, it is entirely possible to consider holding an award ceremony and developing it into an independent IP to create the Oscar ceremony of the industry, so as to gain more commercial value and media attention. For example, the NBA has held a grand NBA annual awards ceremony at the end of the season since 2017, not only a large number of NBA award candidates are present, but also various entertainment industry celebrities will be invited to come to the scene and make guest appearances, TNT live broadcast, full of entertainment. Overall, although the NBA annual awards ceremony was born late, it has caused some pressure on ESPY, known as the "Oscars of sports".
For Chinese sports IP, it is also necessary to put the creation and upgrading of the honor system on the agenda. In 2019, the State Office issued the "Outline for the Construction of a Sports Power", which clearly proposed to "improve China's sports honor system". The creation and improvement of the sports honor system is an important part of the construction of a sports power and the upgrading of sports culture. According to the observation of sports big business, in recent years, Chinese basketball has taken the lead in opening the road of exploration in improving the sports honor system, and there are many bright spots.
Since 2019, the Chinese Basketball Association has begun to discuss the specific matters of preparing for the establishment of the China Basketball Hall of Fame, which is also the first sports hall of fame in mainland history. In 2022, the Chinese Basketball Association has completed the selection of the first China Basketball Hall of Fame, and 9 celebrities including Liu Yudong and Wang Zhizhi have become the first batch of Hall of Fame members who have been successfully selected through three rounds of ballots. As for the CBA League, it is also constantly improving and optimizing its own honor system, and in recent years, it has repackaged and designed more than ten important awards such as regular season MVP, All-Star Game MVP, and Finals MVP, and the novel design of the trophy, the unique shape and the richness of the connotation are amazing. It is hoped that with the help of these honor systems, we can further explore and inherit and promote Chinese basketball culture, and at the same time provide some exploration and enlightenment significance for the entire Chinese sports and cultural undertakings, and enhance the cultural competitiveness and national centripetal force of China's sports power construction.
Note: The images used in this article are from the Internet