|
The NBA unveiled a redesigned Kobe Bryant Trophy -- awarded to the All-Star Game's Most Valuable Player -- on Thursday afternoon. The league revealed the trophy two weeks ahead of the NBA All-Star Game, which will take place Feb. 20 in Cleveland. The trophy, which was renamed after Bryant in the wake of his death two years ago, has a base with four levels on top of it and was created by artist Victor Solomon. It has been given several elements to incorporate accomplishments from throughout Bryant's legendary 20-year NBA career, including: • An eight-sided base, representing the No. 8 jersey Bryant wore for the first half of his career. The base is 2 inches tall, referencing his 2002 All-Star Game MVP, and has 18 stars to represent his 18 All-Star selections. • The first level brings the height up to 7 inches tall, referencing his 2007 All-Star Game MVP, and has 24 stars to represent both the number of All-Stars and No. 24, which he wore over the second half of his career. • The second level makes it 9 inches tall, referencing his 2009 All-Star Game MVP, and has 10 stars representing both the 10 starters in the game and Bryant's No. 10 Team USA jersey. • The third level gets it to 11 inches tall, referencing his 2011 All-Star Game MVP, and has five stars representing his five NBA titles with the Los Angeles Lakers. • A 2-inch fourth level, representing his two NBA Finals MVP awards, has a single star for Bryant being named the NBA MVP in 2008. The NBA and Solomon also released their remodeled versions of the rest of the trophies handed out over All-Star Weekend, including: the celebrity game MVP; the Rising Stars Challenge MVP; the clutch challenge, a new shooting competition; and trophies for winning the skills challenge, dunk contest and 3-point contest. All-Star Weekend will take place Feb. 18-20 in Cleveland. The starters for this year's game were announced last week, and the reserves from both conferences will be announced Thursday night on TNT. LeBron James and Kevin Durant, who are the two All-Star team captains for a second consecutive season, will then draft their respective All-Star teams next week.
|
