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The Walter A. Brown Trophy was a trophy awarded to the National Basketball Association (NBA) (the Basketball Association of America (BAA) from 1946 to 1949) team who won the NBA Finals at the conclusion of each NBA season from 1949 to 1976.
 The original Walter A. Brown Trophy | |
| Sport | Basketball |
|---|---|
| Competition | NBA Playoffs |
| Awarded for | Winning the NBA Finals |
| History | |
| First award | 1947 |
| Final award | 1976 |
| First winner | Philadelphia Warriors |
| Most wins | Boston Celtics (13) |
| Most recent | Boston Celtics (1975-76) |
| Website | NBA.com |
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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's Stanley 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.
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The inaugural winners of the trophy were the Philadelphia Warriors, who defeated the Chicago Stags.[8] From 1957 to 1969, the Celtics won the NBA Finals 11 out of 13 times including eight consecutive times from 1959 to 1966. The final winners of the trophy were the Boston Celtics, who defeated the Phoenix Suns in the 1976 NBA Finals.
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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.
| Team | Trophies | BAA/NBA Finals Champions |
|---|---|---|
| Boston Celtics | 13 | 1957, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1968, 1969, 1974, 1976 |
| Minneapolis/Los Angeles Lakers | 6 | 1949, 1950, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1972 |
| Philadelphia/Golden State Warriors | 3 | 1947, 1956, 1975 |
| New York Knicks | 2 | 1970, 1973 |
| Syracuse Nationals/Philadelphia 76ers | 2 | 1955, 1967 |
| Baltimore Bullets† | 1 | 1948 |
| Milwaukee Bucks | 1 | 1971 |
| Rochester Royals | 1 | 1951 |
| St. Louis Hawks | 1 | 1958 |
† = Defunct
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