The NBA continues to remodel their top awards after the game’s greatest legends.
The NBA is undeniably a superstar-driven league. Players like Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, and Michael Jordan along with a few others can be credited for how massive the Association has become. As a nod to that, the league has rebranded the trophies for some of its most prestigious awards.
Most recently, a big revamp has been made on six of the league’s top individual honors.
The complete list:
- The Michael Jordan trophy - Regular Season MVP
- The Jerry West trophy - Clutch Player of the Year (new award)
- The Hakeem Olajuwon trophy - Defensive Player of the Year
- The Wilt Chamberlain trophy - Rookie of the Year
- The John Havlicek trophy - Sixth Man of the Year
- The George Mikan trophy - Most Improved Player of the Year
The question to ask now is: Are there other NBA legends more deserving to have their names etched on these crystal trophies? Let’s examine.
The Michael Jordan trophy (MVP)
Stars who can make a case: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, LeBron James
Kareem owns the NBA record for having the most MVP awards with six, his lawyers might try taking this case all the way to the Supreme Court. It's notable, however, that the trophy for the Social Justice Champion award is already named after the Sky Hook master.
LeBron, on the other hand, has won four MVPs while arguably being the best player on the planet for the majority of his career. He is also Jordan’s top rival in every GOAT conversation. For sure, LBJ fans will refuse to let this one go.
The Hakeem Olajuwon trophy (DPOY)
Stars who can make a case: Dikembe Mutombo, Ben Wallace
There will be NBA fans who will insist that Mt. Mutombo and Big Ben might be more deserving than the Dream considering that the latter only won 2 DPOY trophies, while Mutombo and Wallace had four each. Wait, Gary Payton might also have a say in this matter. After all, the Glove did claim he was able to lock MJ up in the 1996 NBA Finals. Somewhere in Charlotte, his Airness is dying in laughter.
The Wilt Chamberlain trophy (ROY)
Stars who can make a case: Magic Johnson
People might point out that Magic should be the one featured in this trophy due to his legendary MVP performance as a rookie in the 1980 NBA Finals. But Wilt was just a different animal in his first NBA season (1959-60). There’s no typo here: Chamberlain averaged 37.6 ppg and 27 rpg to win the ROY and MVP trophies simultaneously.
The John Havlicek and Jerry West trophies (Sixth Man of the Year, Clutch Player of the Year)
Stars who can make a case: Arguably none
It was John Havlicek who revolutionized the Sixth man role, coming off the bench for the Celtics dynasty in the 60s. There are numerous players who actually won the 6MOY award—unlike Havlicek—and even did so multiple times. But we will argue that Hondo did not win it simply because the award did not exist yet during his career. And with all due respect to Jamal Crawford and Lou Williams, they are far from the stature of Havlicek.
Jerry West, meanwhile, was christened Mr. Clutch back in the day. Enough said.
The George Mikan trophy (MIP)
Stars who can make a case: Giannis Antetokounmpo (?), Tracy McGrady (?)
Bucks fans would love to see the Most Improved Player trophy get renamed after Giannis who won the award in 2017, while 90s kids certainly would root for Tracy McGrady, the MIP in 2001. Giannis is a future Hall of Famer, while T-Mac is already one, but like what we already said, stature matters in this conversation.
Mikan is the NBA’s first superstar. He popularized the layup and footwork workout called the Mikan Drill that is still used by players at all levels to improve their games. Hard to top that.