When Kyrie Irving suggested this week that the NBA should change its logo to feature and honor Kobe Bryant, many supported the notion. In fact, Vanessa Bryant expressed a positive reaction on Instagram and she wasn’t alone in believing that Bryant’s image could be fittingly used in that way. It remains to be seen as to how much traction the idea will garner but, on Thursday, ESPN’s The Jump re-aired a 2017 conversation with the current model for the league’s logo, Jerry West, that could help to open the door for further conversation.
Kyrie is pushing for the NBA to change its logo from a silhouette of Jerry West to Kobe. We had Jerry West on The Jump & asked him about maybe giving up the logo, and here's what he said (note: he was sitting next to KAREEM on that show, who would be a great logo himself) pic.twitter.com/sqrEsq0i3z
— Rachel Nichols (@Rachel__Nichols) February 25, 2021
West starts by saying plainly that he wishes “it had never gotten out that I’m the logo.” From there, he also indicates that “if they would want to change it, I wish they would. In many ways, I wish they would.”
In the end, West is probably not the part of the decision-making process that would get the change over the finish line. However, it is notable that he would seemingly be okay with stepping aside as the silhouette for the logo, and his connection with Bryant through the Los Angeles Lakers organization is also quite noteworthy. Bryant is already recognized with the NBA All-Star MVP award named after him, with many other honors undoubtedly to come, but it will be interesting to see how this discussion continues.
