{"id":789416,"date":"2026-07-28T14:13:18","date_gmt":"2026-07-28T14:13:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/789416\/"},"modified":"2026-07-28T14:13:18","modified_gmt":"2026-07-28T14:13:18","slug":"larry-obrien-trophy-unveiled-at-museum-of-natural-history","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/789416\/","title":{"rendered":"Larry O\u2019Brien Trophy unveiled at Museum of Natural History"},"content":{"rendered":"

Fresh off the New York Knicks historic title win, the Larry O\u2019Brien Trophy, given out by the NBA to the championship-winning team, will reside in the American Museum of Natural History\u2019s<\/a> \u201cFor the Win: Objects of Sports Excellence\u201d exhibit.<\/p>\n

The museum unveiled the trophy on Monday and will be displayed alongside a collection of iconic items from sports history until Jan. 3, 2027. The exhibit has been open to the public since May and was curated by journalist and author Vikki Tobak.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u201cWhen we were thinking about what objects would go into this show, one of the lenders we reached out to was the NBA, and they lent us several pieces of history. We asked for the trophy, and they graciously said yes, but after this season,\u201d Tobak told amNewYork. \u201cWe were always going to show the trophy, but it was a beautiful coincidence that a New York team won in New York and in a New York museum.\u201d<\/p>\n

Prior to the championship, the league sent the museum a basketball-shaped gold fob from former Knicks head coach Red Holzman, who was presented the trophy after leading the franchise to its last championship in 1973. Yet, receiving the Larry O\u2019Brien Trophy following the Knicks\u2019 triumph 53 years later adds another layer to this collection of memorabilia and pop culture.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter 53 years, I think the whole world is happy for New York. It\u2019s amazing. We had no idea that we would be here today doing this,\u201d Tobak said.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\u201cSports culture has become pop culture. Athletes have become major pop culture stars. That is a big difference. Larry O\u2019Brien, the former NBA commissioner, was known for securing media rights for the NBA to be shown on television, which was something they were working on. To have the games broadcast live and how far we\u2019ve come, that shows you how much sports mean to pop culture.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"JunJun 13, 2026; San Antonio, Texas, USA; The New York Knicks hoist the trophy after defeating the San Antonio Spurs in game five of the 2026 NBA Finals to win the 2026 NBA Championship at Frost Bank Center.Mandatory Credit: Dustin Safranek-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

The trophy sits in a display case in front of the exhibit, with a short note about the story of the Knicks\u2019 title victory<\/a> alongside a photo of superstar guard Jalen Brunson<\/a> and big man Karl-Anthony Towns holding it.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt feels unreal to see the Larry O\u2019Brien trophy out here at the American Museum of Natural History. Having public access is special to New York, and we haven\u2019t had this in 53 years, so to be able to see it in person feels special,\u201d creator and lifelong Knicks fan Laurence Marsach told amNewYork.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe most recent name engraved in the Larry O\u2019Brien trophy is the Knicks, and it makes this extra special. The Knicks brought the city together with incredible positive energy throughout the street, and to be able to offer the chance for New Yorkers and everyone to see the trophy with the freshly engraved Knicks is really special,\u201d American Museum of Natural History President Sean M. Decatur told amNewYork.<\/p>\n

Outside of the Knicks, For the Win<\/a> includes trophies and priceless pieces of New York sports history, including the Liberty\u2019s championship trophy from their 2024 WNBA title win, the Philip F. Anschutz MLS Cup Trophy won by NYCFC in 2021, and the NWSL championship won by Gotham FC in 2023. The collection also displays former Giants defensive end Justin Tuck\u2019s 2008 Super Bowl ring and former Nets superstar Kevin Durant\u2019s 2017 Golden State Warriors championship ring.<\/p>\n

The museum also has the NFL\u2019s Vince Lombardi Trophy, which is presented to the Super Bowl winner, alongside MLB\u2019s Commissioner\u2019s Trophy, given to the World Series winner.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a museum that\u2019s always told stories about human culture and accomplishments. Sports have been an important part of human culture and American history, so it\u2019s important to show how people have won precious gems and created these wonderful objects that we celebrate,\u201d Decatur concluded.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Fresh off the New York Knicks historic title win, the Larry O\u2019Brien Trophy, given out by the NBA…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":789417,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[64],"tags":[25169,355,99],"class_list":["post-789416","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-knicks","tag-nba","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/789416","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=789416"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/789416\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/789417"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=789416"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=789416"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=789416"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}