The Larry O’Brien Trophy had a late Friday dinner with Draymond Green this month in East Lansing, Mich., and hustled its way to Nashville in time to join Festus Ezeli for a tailgate party early the next morning.
That might not have even been the most rushed weekend of the summer for the Warriors’ championship trophy.
The NBA’s top prize was also showcased at Shaun Livingston’s high school in Peoria, Ill., and, less than 24 hours later, rode with Harrison Barnes in a Fourth of July parade in his hometown of Ames, Iowa.
“Our guys enjoyed themselves (this offseason), and I think it’s great,” Warriors head coach Steve Kerr said. “I think there’s a school of thought: ‘You’ve got to forget it happened and move on to the next thing.’ I say, ‘Screw that.’ I say, ‘Enjoy every second of it, but use it. Use it for the knowledge you gained in winning and what got you there in the first place.’
“We’re celebrating our title. It’s something that nobody will ever take away from us.”
By the time it returns to Oakland ahead of Tuesday’s start to training camp, the 2015 version of the O’Brien Trophy will have traveled 31,016 miles and visited nine of the Warriors’ hometowns or colleges.
The NBA crown doesn’t usually have such a hectic schedule, but the Warriors hadn’t won one since 1975 — two seasons before the trophy was given its current look. As a team representative said: “The players can enjoy the trophy for about three months. The organization can enjoy the trophy forever.”
In 1977, the trophy was redesigned to look like a basketball and hoop — plated in gold, standing 2 feet tall and weighing 14½ pounds. Since 1984, the trophy has been named for O’Brien, the league’s commissioner from 1975 to ’84.
The NBA championship trophy has seen an increase in prominence during recent years, but still isn’t nearly as well known as the NHL’s Stanley Cup, which takes a whirlwind, 100-day tour among every player and staff member on the winning team each season.
The Warriors used a similar method in dealing with their trophy, starting on the June 16 plane ride home after winning the title in Cleveland. The final leg comes Sunday with a return trip from a Chapel Hill, N.C., visit with Barnes and James Michael McAdoo.
The O’Brien Trophy took in Stephen Curry’s overnight camp at Pebble Beach, shared a car with team President Rick Welts (the grand marshal of the San Francisco Pride Parade) and went home with Livingston.
“I got to bring the ultimate trophy, the ultimate prize, back to my high school,” Livingston said. “I’ll probably cherish this the rest of my life.”
The trophy was then rushed to Ames, joined Barnes again for a practice with international soccer power FC Barcelona in San Francisco and caught up with NBA Finals MVP Andre Iguodala in Springfield, Ill.
“I think it was just showing the kids that grew up like me that there’s an avenue for them to go down that’s the right path,” Iguodala said. “It’s going to take hard work. It’s going to take dedication. But any dream you have, it’s possible to achieve it.”
The trophy carried Iguodala’s message to Washington State with Klay Thompson and to Michigan State with Green, who promised a $3.1 million donation to the university during his visit. It made its way to Vanderbilt with Ezeli, rode in the Oakland Pride Parade and was in the spotlight with Curry at Charlotte Christian School and Davidson College, both of which he attended.
The trophy finished the offseason with appearances in St. Petersburg, Fla., with Marreese Speights, at the “Splash Brothers” basketball camp and at UNC’s football game Saturday, a win over Delaware.
Even with all of its amenities, including one police escort to the airport, the trophy couldn’t quite make all of its scheduled appearances this offseason. Team representatives said the NBA has had a replica trophy for about two decades — an imitation the Warriors used on the overseas promotional tours of Curry and Thompson and on that especially crazy day earlier this month.
After making his pledge to Michigan State, Green was booked to appear on ESPN’s GameDay. But the trophy had already been scurried to Ezeli at Vanderbilt.
So Green carried the replica onto a stage and predicted his school’s football win over Oregon. Meanwhile, Ezeli was being interviewed with the authentic trophy.
Asked if the Warriors could repeat, Ezeli said: “Why not?”
Rusty Simmons is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: rsimmons@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @Rusty_SFChron
Larry O’Brien Trophy’s summer tour
June 25: Pebble Beach, Stephen Curry overnight camp
June 28: San Francisco Pride Parade, with Rick Welts who was grand marshal
July 3: Peoria, Ill., with Shaun Livingston at Peoria Central High School
July 4: Ames, Iowa, with Harrison Barnes, who was grand marshal of the July Fourth parade
July 23: San Francisco, FC Barcelona’s practice with Harrison Barnes
Aug. 15-17: Springfield, Ill., with Andre Iguodala at Lanphier High School
Sept. 4-5: Pullman, Wash., with Klay Thompson at Washington State
Sept. 11: East Lansing, Mich., with Draymond Green at Michigan State
Sept. 12: Nashville, with Festus Ezeli at Vanderbilt
Sept. 13: Oakland Pride Parade
Sept. 16-18: Charlotte, N.C., with Stephen Curry at Davidson College and Charlotte Christian School
Sept. 19-20: St. Petersburg, Fla., with Marreese Speights
Sept. 25: Oakland, Splash Brothers Clinic
Sept. 26-27: Chapel Hill, N.C., with Harrison Barnes and James Michael McAdoo at University of North Carolina
Total: 31,016 miles
Leave a Reply