Kyrie Irving said Wednesday that Kobe Bryant should be the new NBA logo, resuming a debate on the subject.
“[I don’t care] which everyone says, “Irving wrote on an Instagram post alongside a model of a Kobe logo, adding in all capital letters:” BLACK KINGS BUILD THE LEAGUE. “
This is not the first push for Bryant to replace Jerry West legend as the new NBA logo.
Shortly after Bryant and his daughter Gianna died in a helicopter crash on January 26, 2020, along with seven others, more than two million people signed an online petition to change their logo. Since Irving’s post, the petition now has more than 3.2 million signatures as of Wednesday night.
Vanessa Bryant, Kobe’s widow, also took to Instagram to support Irving’s impulse, writing: “Love this @kyrieirving.”
Alan Siegel, who created the logo, also said at the time of Bryant’s death that it was open to change.
“It simply came to our notice then [Bryant] he has been a highly respected figure in the world, and this is a really serious thing that should be considered by the league, ”Siegel told Newsweek.
West, who did not receive the logo resemblance, also said in 2015 that he is open to changing the logo, suggesting Michael Jordan.
The NBA has not changed the logo, which has been used since 1969, because it does not recognize that West is the player on the logo, according to a Yahoo Sports report at the time.
According to the report, the NBA’s thinking of not having an individual player as its logo is due to the fact that because there are so many players who have contributed to the growth of the game, the generic course is better.
Bryant’s life has not been without controversy. In 2003, a 19-year-old hotel employee accused the then-25-year-old Los Angeles Lakers star of raping her in her hotel room at The Lodge and Spa at the Cordillera in Edwards, Colo.
Prosecutors dropped the charges in 2004 after the prosecutor failed to testify. A civil lawsuit he brought was settled out of court in 2005 for an undisclosed amount.
Bryant was Irving’s idol when he grew up in West Orange, NJ, analyzing the Lakers’ YouTube videos. They became friends, and Irving FaceTimed Bryant from the Cavaliers locker room immediately after winning the 2016 NBA title.