NBA In-Season Tournament trophy: What is it made of? Who designed it? | Size and weight
With the NBA unveiling a new trophy for the In-Season Tournament, we’re looking at the specs of this new piece of silverware or in this case, gold.
When the NBA officially announced its In-Season Tournament back in July, it also gave fans a glimpse of the NBA In-Season Tournament Championship Trophy, otherwise known as “The NBA Cup.” As we now know, there are two teams left in the tournament who will clash for the chance to be the first to hoist it. With that in mind let’s get to know the trophy itself.
Who designed the NBA In-Season Tournament Trophy?
The NBA Cup was in fact designed by Tiffany & Co. in collaboration with artist Victor Solomon, and handcrafted at the Tiffany hollowware workshop in Cumberland, Rhode Island.
Ok but what are the trophy’s specs?
Starting with color, the NBA Cup is gold, a color that according to the NBA’s website, “reinforces the connection to the NBA’s trophy offerings and symbolizes the highest level of achievement, while the black coloring is unique to the league’s trophy collection, a new addition for the In-Season Tournament.” As for the material used to make it, the trophy is Sterling silver and coated in 24-karat gold vermeil and black ceramic. Where it’s measurements are concerned, they are as follows: 23″ high, 18″ prong height, 5″ base height, weighing 35 lbs.
What are the other details of the NBA Cup?
There are eight prongs that flow into the channels of the cup, inspired by the prongs of a diamond ring. Then, there is the base which features a net detail and appears to be a mixture of the design of the Eastern Conference and Western Conference Championship Trophy bases. This brings us to the underside of the trophy which features the NBA In-Season Tournament event logo.
What was the design inspiration behind the NBA Cup?
As per the NBA, the one trophy represents the one In-Season Tournament champion, while its three-tier base signifies the three games that the champion must win in the In-Season Tournament Knockout Rounds. The above-mentioned eight prongs also stand for the eight teams that advanced to the Knockout Rounds. There is also the height of the trophy itself (23″) which interestingly enough carries significance as well as it represents the inaugural year of the In-Season Tournament. We then have the 30 net openings on the trophy’s base which is tied to the 30 teams in the league, and last but not least there is the weight (35 lbs) which is linked to the three groups of five teams in each conference for Group Play in the In-Season Tournament.