Rebranded NBA MVP trophy bears Michael Jordan’s name, but not his image. Here’s why
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As an associate of the ultimate prankster, Mark Smith nearly had to take a cotton swab to his ear just to make sure he was hearing things correctly.
When Smith, a Jordan Brand designer and retired vice president of innovation and special projects at Nike, was approached by Charlotte Hornets owner Michael Jordan about seven months ago to take on an unbelievably rare project involving the NBA, he nearly had to do a double take and circle back.
“Well, it’s like any other interesting and unique conversations that we have, offering opportunities to try new and different things,” Smith told The Charlotte Observer. “Whether it’s in the world of business or his personal world of design and creativity, his active life. But this one, let’s just say it went into the atmosphere a little for us. It was quite a conversation and I thought he was pulling my leg because it’s so unique.
“It’s such a unique opportunity and we get along like that sometimes. Push and pull each other. And this one, in fact, turned out to be a real deal. It was wild.”
Indeed, this was no April Fool’s gag and not a gotcha moment. Even though Smith couldn’t initially believe it, treading ever-so-carefully with Jordan.
“You never know,” Smith said. “It depends on the time of day, who’s around. He’s just trying to pull somebody’s leg and say, ‘Look, this guy is an easy target.’ It was wild. It was really something and it really kind of set in after the phone call: ‘This one is really going to take on a life of its own.’ So, it’s really, really cool. Really great.”
In continuing its rebrand of the league’s most prestigious awards, the trophy given annually to the most valuable player has been dubbed the Michael Jordan Trophy, the NBA announced Tuesday. The league wanted to rename the award after one of its best players and went with the Hall of Famer, six-time NBA Finals MVP and winner of 10 scoring titles among other accomplishments. Jordan’s name replaces that of the NBA’s first commissioner, Maurice Podoloff.
The league announced last week that the team with the best overall record will receive the Maurice Podoloff Trophy, a shuffle necessitated by the creation of the six new keepsakes named after NBA legends. Commissioner Adam Silver dialed up Jordan when the league initially hatched the idea to deliver the news and Jordan climbed on board.
“He was appreciative, honored, really wanted to jump in and design the trophy,” Christopher Arena, the NBA’s head of on-court & brand partnerships and a lead person on the league’s team of re-imaging its trophies, told the Observer. “And I think his way of saying, ‘I get it, I get why players and league people and everyone would want me to have that honor, thank you. But here’s what it means to me, here’s what it should mean to the person winning it.’
“So, that’s why you saw this humble nature of him come through in the design of the trophy.”
One of the most intricate details surrounds the trophy’s actual figure: it’s not Jordan. Made out of bronze, the trophy features a generic NBA player breaking out of a rock and reaching for a crystal basketball.
Smith worked in creative partnership with Jordan to devise the concepts and overall look of the shiny new hardware that will be doled out to the league’s best player each year. Smith calls himself a CSI – creative storyteller interpreter – and after beginning with a few renderings, he collaborated with 3D and visualization specialist Bobby LeGaye, project manager Pete Mauhar and Milwaukee-based artistic director and bronze guru Michael Nolte to bring their drawing visions to reality.
“It’s a universal thing,” said Smith, who’s worked with Jordan on numerous projects during the past 20 years. “He was really keen on saying, ‘Look, what’s the name of the award? It’s Michael Jordan Most Valuable Player award for the NBA. That says it all. No matter what’s on top. That’s really it.’
“Then we talked back and forth about what the image should portray. It’s a universal theme of reaching for the stars. It’s literally at the top, at the peak moment and there’s literally nowhere up to go. You are literally at the zenith of your motion.”
That’s why Jordan was adamant about ensuring the award had a certain appeal.
“This is straight out of his language, ‘The player should see themselves in this, not me,’” Smith said. “When he said ‘not me’ it clicked right away. I said, ‘OK, this is a universal theme. This isn’t a man in a uniform. This is a human form reaching for that.’ And the story of raw-to-refined really became how to bring all that together. That was a great challenge. It was a fabulous challenge.”
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Some of the other elaborate details include the trophy’s height and weight, which measures 23.6 inches and 23.6 pounds to signify Jordan’s iconic jersey and the six titles he won in his tenure with Chicago. The crystal basketball consists of 23 points and there’s also a five-sided base to represent Jordan’s five MVP awards.
The new brainchild all stemmed from a culmination of ideas navigated in conjunction with several departments across the NBA, a process that began a few years ago when league officials were conceptualizing what hardware to hand out in the newly-formed Basketball Africa League. Jordan gave it the final seal of approval prior to its unveiling.
“As soon as he picked it up, it shifted from this isn’t practice anymore — this is the game-winning shot,” Smith said. “The response was, ‘Yes, this has everything that we are looking for.’ It was very positive. It’s a hell of a thing to stick that thing with fingers crossed, ‘This is what you are looking for, boss.’ And it turned out quite well. We are very happy with it.
“You are kind of in the clouds on this one. This one transcended business, on being around the game. This is in the game, of the man that’s supposed to represent the pinnacle of achievement in given sport, and the league and the world essentially. It feels great. It takes teamwork to bring that to life.”
This story was originally published December 13, 2022 at 8:00 AM.
