Kyrie Irving said on Wednesday that Kobe Bryant should be the new NBA logo, reigniting the debate on the issue.
“[I don’t care] what someone says, ”Irving wrote in an Instagram post next to a mockup of the Kobe logo, adding in capital letters:“ BLACK KINGS BUILD THE LEAGUE. “
This is not Bryant’s first effort to replace legend Jerry West as the new NBA logo.
Shortly after Bryant and his daughter Gianna died in a helicopter crash on January 26, 2020, along with seven others, more than two million people signed an online petition to change the logo. Since Irving’s post, the petition now has more than 3.2 million signatures on Wednesday night.
Vanessa Bryant, Kobe’s widow, also accessed Instagram to support Irving’s impulse, writing “I love this @kyrieirving”.
Alan Siegel, who created the logo, also said at the time of Bryant’s death that he was open to change.
“It is quite clear that this [Bryant] he was a very respected figure by the players and around the world and this is something very serious that must be considered by the league, “Siegel told Newsweek.
West, who did not profit from the similarity of the logo, also said in 2015 that he was open to changing the logo, suggesting Michael Jordan.
The NBA has not changed the logo, which has been in use since 1969, because it does not recognize that West is the player in the logo, according to a Yahoo Sports report at the time.
According to the report, the NBA’s thinking of not having an individual player as a logo is because, as there are so many players who have contributed to the game’s growth, becoming generic is better.
Bryant’s life was not without controversy. In 2003, a 19-year-old hotel employee accused the Los Angeles Lakers star, then 25, of raping her in his hotel room at The Lodge and Spa at Cordillera in Edwards, Colorado.
Prosecutors dropped the charges in 2004, after the accuser did not testify. A civil case she filed against him was settled out of court in 2005 for an undisclosed amount.
Bryant was Irving’s idol when he grew up in West Orange, New Jersey, poring over clips of the Lakers icon on YouTube. They became friends, and Irving FaceTimed Bryant from the Cavaliers’ locker room shortly after winning the 2016 NBA title.