Image via DFree / Shutterstock.com
The silhouette of Jerry West has been the NBA’s recognizable logo, and the league has not changed it ever since.
However, Kyrie Irving would prefer to update it. The Brooklyn Nets point guard took to Instagram to argue that the Lakers legend, Kobe Bryant, should replace West as the figure in the league’s logo.
Irving then continued to say that the league is made up of predominantly Black players, hence it is only wise to put a Black athlete on its symbol.
“Gotta happen, [I don’t care] what anyone says,” Irving wrote on Instagram. “Black kings built the league.” The post features a mockup of the late Bryant donning his Lakers jersey in place of West, with the league’s recognizable colors in the background.
The mockup was created by designer
Tyson Beck after Bryant passed a year ago.
After Bryant died in 2020, a petition was started on
change.org to incorporate his presence into the logo, and it amassed over 3.2 million signatures. However, the league hasn’t announced any plans to consider a redesign of the symbol.
The current NBA logo was designed by
Alan Siegel back in 1969, based on a photograph of West.
[via
Complex, cover image via
DFree / Shutterstock.com]