Missed a golden glimpse of the first Knicks’ championship trophy in 53 years, as it made its victory lap through Manhattan? Never fear, New York: Get yourself to the American Museum of Natural History starting Monday, where the Larry O’Brien Trophy will be on display through January 3.
The Knicks beat the San Antonio Spurs on June 13, crowning a spectacular comeback season and ending a two generation-spanning dignity drought for New York City. And so commenced a literally explosive weekend of celebrations across the five boroughs, which culminated in a ticker-tape parade on June 18 to City Hall. Roughly 2 million fans attended, leaving thousands more on the wrong side of the police barricades along Broadway — close but frustratingly far from the team.
The Knicks’ historic win has “brought the city together in really exciting ways,” AMNH President Sean M. Decatur told the Gothamist Wednesday. “It’s wonderful as a civic institution and an iconic part of the city’s museum landscape to be a part of that.” The Larry O’Brien Trophy is named after the NBA commissioner who served from 1975 to 1984, and was one of the country’s top Democratic strategists for more than two decades. It weighs 30 pounds, is made of sterling silver and gold vermeil, and depicts a life-sized basketball shooting through a hoop. The names of every winning team since 1947 are inscribed on its base.
The Larry O’Brien Trophy will be showcased alongside other sports paraphernalia, including the NFL’s Vince Lombardi Trophy and one of Jesse Owens’s gold medals from the 1936 Olympics, as part of the museum’s “For the Win” exhibition, which explores the significance of precious metals and gems in human achievement.
Decatur said the exhibition’s curators had always intended to showcase the Larry O’Brien Trophy and had even contacted the NBA two years ago, during the show’s conception, about acquiring it temporarily. What the museum surely didn’t expect was for the trophy to arrive freshly imbued with New York history.
“It’s an amazing coming together of a long-planned exhibit with this very special moment in New York history,” Decatur said.
