The National Basketball Association (NBA) has announced that it will rename its regular season awards after players this year. In partnership with Kia, the NBA unveiled remodeled trophies honoring some of the league’s greatest players. Including the likes of Michael Jordan, Jerry West, and Hakeem Olajuwon. The NBA has been revamping many awards. Naming the All-Star MVP in honoring Kobe Bryant and adding an Eastern and Western Conference MVP in honor of Larry Bird and Magic Johnson, respectively.
The Revamped NBA Regular Season Awards
The MVP award, given each year to the league’s best performer during the regular season, will now come in the form of the Michael Jordan trophy. Jordan is widely considered to be the greatest player to ever play in the NBA. He won five MVP awards in his playing career. The award was previously known as the Maurice Podoloff Trophy after the former commissioner of the NBA. In addition to the name change, the trophy will now have a sculpted replica of Jordan’s silhouette.
The Defensive Player of the Year will now receive the Hakeem Olajuwon trophy, which honors the former Houston Rockets center, considered one of the greatest defensive players of all time. The Most Improved Player award will now honor George Mikan, the former Minneapolis Lakers center who was also a prolific scorer during his career.
John Havlicek, famed Boston Celtics guard and a member of the Basketball Hall of Fame, will be the namesake of the Sixth Man of the Year Award, given to the league’s top reserve. Rookie of the Year will now be named after Wilt Chamberlain. One of the league’s all-time great centers who famously scored 100 points in a single game in 1962.
A New NBA Award
The NBA also announced a new award for the 2022-2023 season. The new award honors Jerry West and will be given to the Clutch Player of the Year. The merits of this award will be determined by the level of influence a player has on the outcomes of games. The award is in recognition of Jerry West’s accomplishments on the court as a player. He is also among the most successful executives in the history of the NBA.
Is Renaming The Awards A Good Idea?
The NBA is known as a player’s league due to the high level of talent on its rosters every year and the wide variety of celebrities who are fans of the game. Therefore, it was important that the league decided to rename its awards to honor some of the all-time great players who made the game what it is today.
Interestingly, these regular-season awards weren’t named after the players who won these awards the most. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar won MVP more than Michael Jordan. Still, it’s doubtful they would give him the award today. Especially considering Jordan’s impact on the game and the fact that he was undeniably the best player in the league for many years. The renaming is sure to spark discussion and interest around the league for years to come. Hopefully, it will generate more buzz about the game.
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