DALLAS and SAN ANTONIO, April 14 -- NBA legends Bill Russell, Julius “Dr. J” Erving, Clyde Drexler, Moses Malone, George Gervin, Robert Parish, Artis Gilmore and Spud Webb, who have won a combined 18 NBA and three ABA championships, launched the 2004 NBA Legends Tour: Destination Finals by unveiling the first-ever Finals airplane by Southwest Airlines, flying on it to San Antonio, and delivering the 2004 Larry O’Brien championship trophy to the home of the defending NBA champion San Antonio Spurs.

An octet of NBA legends christen the new Finals airplane Wednesday afternoon during a ceremony at Southwest Airlines' Love Field headquarters in Dallas.
Glenn James/NBAE/Getty Images
As part of Destination Finals, NBA legends will showcase this year’s Larry O’Brien trophy in NBA Playoff cities and some non-NBA cities for fan autograph and photo sessions, community projects and events, a series of NBA Playoff viewing parties, and, of course, at more than 30 Playoff games. The legends, who will travel more than 100,000 combined miles, will chronicle their experiences through interviews on nationally-televised Playoff games and NBA TV as well as writing blogs on NBA.com. The trophy will eventually arrive at Game 1 of The Finals and will be present for every game throughout the series.

Beginning today at Southwest Airlines maintenance facility at the airline’s Love Field headquarters in Dallas, The Finals airplane was “christened” by the legends who will take the trophy on the plane’s inaugural flight to San Antonio. The trophy will be delivered to the SBC Center for the tour’s first stop – the final evening of the NBA’s regular season where the Spurs will host the Denver Nuggets.

The Finals airplane features The Finals logo across both sides of the fuselage and will also be decorated with decals on the nose and winglets. Graphics featuring The Finals logo and Larry O’Brien trophy logo will also appear on the overhead bins inside the plane. Following the trophy delivery, the plane will go into regular rotation throughout the 58-city, 30-state Southwest Airlines network. Southwest Airlines will also randomly be giving away tickets to the NBA Playoffs and The Finals during flights on The Finals plane.

“The NBA Playoffs and The Finals is the most exciting story in sports over the next two months and we are delighted to be a part of the journey,” said Ed Stewart, Southwest Airlines Senior Director of Public Relations.

“This tour gives NBA fans across the country the opportunity to see up-close exactly what these 16 teams will be competing so hard for -- the coveted Larry O’Brien trophy,” said Jonathan Press, NBA Vice President, Marketing Partnerships. “I can think of no better way to tip-off the tour than by loading up the Southwest Airlines’ Finals plane with some of the most accomplished players in the history of the sport to deliver the trophy to the home of the defending champs.”

The NBA championship trophy was renamed the Larry O'Brien Trophy in 1984 in honor of Commissioner Larry O'Brien who served the league from 1975-84. The trophy replaced the Walter A. Brown Trophy, which was named after the pioneering owner of the Boston Celtics. The trophy, designed by Tiffany & Co., measures two feet high and weighs 14.5 pounds. Fittingly, the basketball depicted on the trophy is regulation size of nine-inch diameter.

Southwest Airlines is the Official Airline of the NBA, the NBA Playoffs and The Finals. In recent months, Southwest has become the nation’s largest domestic carrier in terms of Customers boarded. Based in Dallas, Southwest Airlines serves 58 cities in 30 states, and currently operates nearly 2,800 flights a day with a fleet of 392 Boeing 737s.