Behind the Scenes of the Making of NBA’s New Michael Jordan MVP Trophy

At the end of the current season, the NBA will hand out newly designed trophies named after NBA legends. Tasked with creating the Michael Jordan MVP Trophy is Vanguard Sculpture Services in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

For the award, they collaborated with Jordan brand designer Mark Smith. They told WDJT there’s an art to getting it perfect, and many details about the trophy are a nod to Jordan’s career.

For this, they collaborated with Jordan Brand designer Mark Smith.

They told WDJT there’s an art to getting it perfect. It involves first making a wax version of the trophy. That cast is fired, and liquid bronze is poured in. That burns away the wax.

Many details about the trophy are a nod to Jordan’s career. For example, it’s 23.6 inches tall and 23.6 pounds, which represents Jordan’s jersey number and his six NBA championships. It’s also five-sided to represent Jordan’s five league MVPs.

"The MVP award requires someone, who is on a team, to fully participate in that team. So that's what we tried to do here,” Smith said.

Related Stories