The NBA's Larry O'Brien Championship Trophy got a style upgrade when it comes to travel. Back in January, the NBA announced the first traveling case for their highly sought after hardware, and it is no typical suitcase. The case is part of a multi-year partnership between the league and Louis Vuitton.
Now, the Los Angeles Lakers will home the luxury adorned hardware after beating the Miami Heat in six games in the NBA Finals. According to USA Today, the case took six craftsmen over 100 hours to complete and was made in Paris.
Here is a look at it, per the NBA:
For the first time, this year’s #LarryOBrienTrophy will be presented to the winning team in a bespoke @LouisVuitton Travel Case. The French Maison is the first Official Trophy Case provider for the NBA. #LVxNBA pic.twitter.com/sLZtunMs9f
— NBA (@NBA) September 30, 2020
Nice job Larry, my first suitcase was not this nice.
Louis Vuitton was able to pair their style while mixing in many nods to the NBA. The V is not just for the company, but stands for "Victory" and the red and blue trim is a representation of the league's colors. USA Today also reported that the inside will feature the NBA logo.
The case has two drawers, in case the trophy needs to bring any carry-on items with it.
NBA players are known to be some of the most fashion forward when it comes to pre-game looks and it is only right that the trophy is fashionable as well.
The league's deputy commissioner Mark Tatum spoke about this partnership saying:
"It is a unique first partnership for us and the first partnership of this kind for Louis Vuitton with a North American sports league. They have a history over the last decade or so of doing this kind of trophy case for some of the other big global sports like the FIFA World Cup trophy, the Roland Garros and Davis Cup trophies, the Rugby World Cup, but this is the first time they are partnering with a North American sports league to do this."
I imagine traveling with such a valuable item as the trophy is rather stressful, but having this custom made suitcase will hopefully relieve some of the stress for whoever is tasked with keeping it safe while it is on the move.
This is not Louis Vutton's first venture into the sports world. FIFA partnered with the brand on a similar project for the World Cup Trophy in 2018.
