The original trophy was awarded to the BAA/NBA champions from 1947 to 1976.[1] The trophy was loaned 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 like the NHL'sStanley Cup, which continues that tradition to this day. The trophy was originally referred to as the NBA Finals trophy,[2] but was renamed in 1964 after Walter A. Brown, the original owner of the Boston Celtics who was instrumental in merging the BAA and the National Basketball League into the NBA in 1949.[3][4] Boston Celtics were the final winners of the original Trophy in 1976. A new trophy design was created for the 1977 NBA Finals, although it retained the Walter A. Brown title until it was renamed the Larry O'Brien Championship Trophy in 1984 to honor the then recently retired NBA commissioner Larry O'Brien. Unlike the original championship trophy, the new trophy was given permanently to the winning team and a new one being made each season.[5][6][7] For the most part in contemporary league media, championship wins in the Brown Trophy era are represented visually by the O'Brien Trophy instead for the purposes of simplicity.
This table lists the 9 teams that have won the Walter A. Brown Championship Trophy since it was introduced in 1946 until it was awarded for the final time in 1976.
