NBA reveals new Kobe Bryant Trophy awarded for All-Star Game MVP
By Ben Morse, CNN
The NBA revealed on Thursday a newly designed Kobe Bryant Trophy which is awarded to the Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the NBA All-Star Game.
Bryant, his daughter Gianna and seven others were killed in a helicopter crash in Calabasas, California, in January 2020.
The trophy was renamed in the basketball legend’s honor after Bryant’s death, and it has been revamped with the help of artist Victor Solomon to pay tribute to specific areas of his career, as well as the achievement of being selected as an NBA All-Star.
The new multi-tiered trophy, which will be awarded on Sunday, February 20 at the 2022 All-Star Game, is supported by an eight-sided base, to represent Bryant’s No. 8 jersey number as well as the eight decades that the All-Star Game has been around.
The 18 stars around the base of the trophy represent Bryant’s 18 All-Star selections, while its two-inch base height is a nod to his 2002 All-Star MVP.
On the first level — which is seven inches in height to represent Bryant’s 2007 All-Star Game MVP — there are 24 stars adorning the outside which signify Bryant’s No. 24 jersey number and each All-Star selected to the game.
The second level of the trophy is nine inches in height, a nod to Bryant’s 2009 All-Star Game MVP, and is surrounded by 10 stars to represent Bryant’s USA Basketball No. 10 jersey and the 10 All-Star Game starters.
The third level is 11 inches in height to commemorate his 2011 NBA All-Star Game MVP award, and is circled with five stars to showcase his five NBA championships as well as the “unity of an NBA team.”
The fourth and final tier is adorned with a final star — two inches in height to represent Bryant’s two Bill Russell Trophies as the NBA Finals MVP — to commemorate his 2007-08 NBA MVP award.
As well as the new Kobe Bryant Trophy, four other trophies awarded over All-Star Weekend have undergone new designs to commemorate the NBA’s 75th anniversary.
“For the past few years, the NBA and I have proudly and tirelessly worked to reconsider what a trophy is, has been and could be,” Solomon said.
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“Redesigning the All-Star trophies gave us a special opportunity to create event awards worthy of the energy and excitement the moment creates, while introducing the full collection’s visual, aesthetic language.
“The occasion also gave us the privilege and responsibility to develop an entirely new silhouette worthy of being named ‘The Kobe Bryant Trophy’ for the Kia NBA All-Star MVP for which, in the spirit of its namesake, we threw out all conventions and challenged ourselves to reorient how we thought about ‘the game.'”
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