An online petition asking the NBA to change its iconic Jerry West-inspired logo to an image based on Kobe Bryant continues to gain support and already has millions of signatures.
Designed in 1969 by Alan Siegel, the NBA’s current logo was based on the silhouette of West, another legend for the Los Angeles Lakers.
Should the NBA decide to listen to the petition and posthumously change the logo to honor Bryant, it doesn’t sound as if West, who traded for the late NBA star after he was drafted by the Charlotte Hornets to bring him to LA, would have a problem with it.
“I wish that it had never gotten out that I’m the logo,” West said on ESPN’s The Jump in 2017. “I really do. I’ve said it more than once, and it’s flattering if that’s me — and I know it is me — but it is flattering. I don’t like to do anything to call attention to myself … If they would want to change it, I wish they would. In many ways, I wish they would.”
When the petition reached 2.4 million signatures, its creator Nick shared a message.
“When I started this petition I was just some 16-year-old kid who had just lost his role model and hero,” he wrote. “I was using it as a way to cope and mourn his passing. My initial goal was to get a mere 100 signatures. Never would I have thought for this petition to get so incredibly big. The support from the NBA and Kobe Bryant fans has been overwhelmingly amazing. Thank you all from the bottom of my heart. Because of all of you we can make this dream become a reality. So I ask all of you to please continue sharing this as much as possible so as we are on the verge of changing NBA history!”
Speaking of West, he appeared on TNT last night prior to the Celtics-Heat game to talk about Bryant and his legacy.
“He always talked about this Mamba mentality. He didn’t have to create that, it was already there.”
Jerry West on Kobe Bryant. pic.twitter.com/sjIed4rBfy
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) January 29, 2020
As of this writing, the petition has nearly 2,700,000 signatures.
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