That pride West originally had morphed into disdain when the logo took over his basketball legacy. “Jerry’s proud to be the logo, but it’s also embarrassing to him, in equal measure.” Walter felt it was important to have a brand for the league,” said Coleman. “The logo, this is not something he was at all seeking. Jonathan Coleman, writer of West’s biography said of the logo: One would think that being a player who would eventually become the NBA logo would be the highest honor a player could have, but West has been lukewarm on the idea ever since it came into the collective sports consciousness. West has had a complicated relationship with being the logo. Siegel postulated that either the NBA didn’t want to admit it was based on a player, or they were concerned West would want royalties, learning he was the logo. In a 2017 interview with The Undefeated, Siegel explained how he met with David Stern years after creating the logo. Siegel never hid his inspiration, but the league wasn’t happy with the idea that everyone learned it was West. Then commissioner Walter Kennedy loved it, despite not knowing it was West who the image was modeled after, and West himself was never asked on whether he was okay with the league using his likeness. In trying to determine what figure should be in the image he found inspiration in a photo of Jerry West playing, and made West the prototype for the logo. A year earlier Siegel had designed the logo for Major League Baseball, and pulled from the same design in making the NBA’s. The history of the NBA logoĬreated in 1969 by brand consultant Alan Siegel, the NBA logo has been a staple of the association for over 50 years. Despite all this actually making a change is far, far more difficult than people might imagine. West has never been officially acknowledged as the logo, but everyone knows it’s him - and he doesn’t want to be the logo. A growing, vocal crowd want the league’s silhouette of Jerry West replaced with Kobe Bryant in honor of the Lakers legend following the tragic 2020 helicopter accident which claimed his life. The NBA logo is one of the most identifiable images in sports, but there’s been a recent movement to change it.
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