List of Walter A. Brown Trophy winners

The Walter A. Brown Trophy was awarded to the National Basketball Association (NBA) (or Basketball Association of America (BAA) from 1946 to 1949) team who won the NBA Finals at the conclusion of each NBA season from 1949 to 1977. The trophy was kept by the winning team for one year and given to the winning team of the following year's finals, unless the previous team won again, much the the NHL's Stanley Cup, which continues that tradition to this day. The first winner of the trophy was the Philadelphia Warriors, who defeated the Chicago Stags. In 1964, it was named after Walter A. Brown, in honor of the original owner of the Boston Celtics who was instrumental in merging the Basketball Association of America and the National Basketball League into the NBA in 1949.cite web |url=http://www.hoophall.com/halloffamers/bhof-walter-brown.html |title=Walter A. Brown |accessdate=2008-08-03 |last= |first= |coauthors= |date= |work= |publisher=hoophall.com] [cite web|url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/404512/National-Basketball-Association|title=NBA|publisher=Encyclopædia Britannica|accessdate=2008-07-27]

A new trophy design was created for the 1977 NBA Finals, though it retained the Walter A. Brown title. Unlike the original championship trophy, the new trophy was given permanently to the winning team and a new one is made every year. The trophy was renamed in 1984 to honor former NBA commissioner Larry O'Brien. [cite web |url=http://www.hoophall.com/halloffamers/bhof-larry-obrien.html |title=Lawrence O'Brien|accessdate=2008-08-03 |last= |first= |coauthors= |date= |work= |publisher=hoophall.com] cite web|url=http://www.nba.com/lakers/news/trophy_020712.html|title=Larry O'Brien Championship Trophy|publisher=NBA.com|accessdate=2008-07-26] cite web|url=http://www.sptimes.com/2003/04/10/Lightning/The_trophies.shtml|title=The trophies|publisher="St. Petersburg Times"|date=2003-04-10|accessdate=2008-07-26] The Boston Celtics, who won the NBA Finals eight years consecutively and made it to the NBA Finals 12 out of 13 years from 1957 to 1969, won the trophy a total of 13 times, most in league history. The final recipient of the trophy was the Philadelphia 76ers, who defeated the Los Angeles Lakers in the 1983 NBA Finals.

Key

Winners

Notes

*note label|Note1|A|A During the 1949–50 season, the league consisted of three divisions. The Minneapolis Lakers were in the Central Division. [cite web |url=http://www.basketball-reference.com/leagues/NBA_1950.html |title=1949-50 NBA Season Summary |accessdate=2008-08-03 |last= |first= |coauthors= |date= |work=Sports Reference LLC. |publisher=Basketball-reference.com]
*note label|Note1|B|B The trophy was renamed for Walter A. Brown.
*note label|Note1|C|C The trophy was replaced by a new design.

References