Victor Solomon Had Been Working On the New NBA Trophy for Years
The artist and designer Victor Solomon was called to redesign the 45-year-old NBA trophy, and he will work with the artisans at Tiffany & Co.’s hollowware shop. They will also update the Eastern and Western Conference Finals championship trophies, the Bill Russell Finals MVP trophy, the Eastern and Western Conference Finals MVP trophies: the Earvin “Magic” Johnson Trophy, and the Larry Bird Trophy.
Solomon Spoke On the Revival of the NBA’s Highest Profile Trophies
In a recent conversation, Solomon explained his journey to reviving the NBA’s highest-profile trophies. He also shared how he was obsessed with the game as a child in Boston and how he was getting frustrated with the art world of today. The artist also said he hid an Easter Egg in the championship trophy so that one of the lucky teams that would own it in the future would get to see it for the first time.
Solomon opened his Literally Balling studio in 2013, and his popularity grew over time to the point that today, he’s working with the NBA and Tiffany & Co. He first worked with filmmakers and later got introduced to stained glass art before he started making products as a celebration of sports that meant something to him. The artist shared how he got a lot of momentum through social media.
The NBA Reached Out to Him
Solomon was reached out to by the NBA around 2018 after they noticed him for his work. A year later, he and Christopher Arena met to work on the trophy redesign project. It was then he learned that he would be working with Tiffany & Co., which had been creating the Larry O’Brien and conference trophies since 1977.
According to Solomon, redesigning the trophies was like creating his version of them. Apparently, it was a dream project of his that he had been in pursuit of for a long time. He added that he had to give the NBA credit for taking on something like this and pointed out that together, they have issued over 150 new trophies for this season.