There is nothing wrong with the NBA logo. It is timeless, smooth and instantly identifiable.
The fact that it happens to be Jerry West’s figure doesn’t make sense to most people who see it. The logo was designed on a Western dribbling silhouette, but designer Alan Siegel he didn’t choose the image because of who he was – even if West, John Havlicek and Oscar Robertson were his favorite players – but because a particular photo caught him.
“It smelled nice,” Siegel said in a 2010 interview. “So I took that picture and watched it. It was perfect. He was upright and had a sense of movement. It was just one of those things that clicked. ”
The logo has been the same for almost half a century, and while there has been occasional talk about changing it – possibly to honor Michael Jordan – the western silhouette hung there. It is always possible to do something better, of course, but change for the sake of change is not the way to go when change is not really needed.
Kyrie Irving now believes the logo should be changed to Kobe Bryant, posting a picture on Instagram this week that read: “Gotta Happen, idc what everyone says. THE BLACK KINGS BUILD THE LEAGUE “
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Irving has a point about honoring black excellence, but Bryant is not the answer.
“I know she’s probably met some people who love her – who love the idea – and some people who don’t love her,” Irving said. Thursday evening after the Nets won Magic. “But my thing is to pay homage to the example set by that man.”
It’s been more than a year since Bryant’s tragic death in a helicopter crash with his daughter Gianna and seven others. Although it was understandable immediately after that that people wanted to honor the impact he had as a hero for this generation of players and supporting women’s basketball, it was never realized that Bryant only escaped a rape trial because the alleged victim told prosecutors that could not proceed with the case after receiving death threats and eventually settling a civil lawsuit out of court.
“While I truly believe that this meeting between us was consensual, I now acknowledge that she has not seen and does not see this incident as much as I do,” Bryant said in a 2004 statement.
There is a huge difference between honoring the positive impact Bryant has had on the NBA and so many players in and around the game and turning it into the image that defines the league for decades to come. We can’t forget rape just because we liked someone.
Beyond Irving’s point here in Black History Month, if you want to talk about “BLACK KINGS BUILD THE LEAGUE,” honor someone who helped build the building. Wilt Chamberlain is going crazy it would be a fantastic choice. Or Bill Russell is taking flight. Or Walt Frazier plays the ball through. Or Robertson.
There are a lot of great choices. But the NBA can take its time, because, after all, there is nothing wrong with the logo as it is. Any changes they make, even if they do, must ensure that it is an improvement and that the Bryant logo is not.