NBA upgrades Kobe Bryant Trophy given to All-Star MVP

FILE–Kobe Bryant #24 of the Los Angeles Lakers and the Western Conference warms up with daughter Gianna Bryant during the NBA All-Star Game 2016 at the Air Canada Centre on February 14, 2016 in Toronto, Ontario.

FILE–Kobe Bryant with daughter Gianna Bryant during the NBA All-Star Game 2016 on February 14, 2016 in Toronto, Ontario. Elsa/Getty Images/AFP (Photo by ELSA / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP)

A newly designed NBA All-Star Game debut of The Kobe Bryant Trophy will be awarded to the All-Star Game MVP after the 2022 game in Cleveland.

The Feb. 20 event will include multiple “reimagined” awards in a nod to the league’s 75th season.

Commissioner Adam Silver introduced The Kobe Bryant Trophy prior to the 2020 All-Star Game in Chicago, shortly after Bryant’s death in a helicopter crash that also killed his daughter, Gianna, and seven other people. Bryant, an 18-time All-Star, won a record-tying four Kia All-Star Game MVP awards.

“The new Kobe Bryant Trophy further celebrates its namesake, with intricate details holding dual meanings, both for NBA All-Star and Bryant’s legendary career,” the NBA said Thursday in a statement.

The Kobe Bryant Trophy. NBA HANDOUT

Designed in partnership with artist Victor Solomon, the award is created with Bryant’s accomplishments in mind. Bryant spent his entire career (1996-2016) with the Los Angeles Lakers.

“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. “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, esthetic 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.'”

Unique and intentional features recognize Bryant’s on-court accomplishments, including:

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