Kyrie Irving said Wednesday that Kobe Bryant should be the new NBA logo, which should give another debate on the matter.
‘[I don’t care] what anyone says, ”Irving wrote in an Instagram post with a model of a Kobe logo, adding in all capital letters: ‘BLACK KINGS BUILT THE LEAGUE.’
This is not the first pressure for Bryant to replace legendary Jerry West as the new NBA logo.
Shortly after Bryant and his daughter Gianna died in an accident on a helicopter on January 26, 2020, more than two million people signed an online petition for the logo change. Since Irving’s post, the petition now has more than 3.2 million signatures as of Wednesday night.
Vanessa Bryant, Kobe’s widow, also went to Instagram to support Irving’s press and wrote, “Love this @kyrieirving.”
Alan Siegel, who created the logo, also said at the time of Bryant’s death that he was open to it.
‘It is very clear that it [Bryant] “was a very respected figure by players and around the world, and that’s really a serious thing to consider by the league,” Siegel told Newsweek.
West, who did not take advantage of the logo agreement, also said in 2015 that he was open to changing the logo, suggesting Michael Jordan.
According to the then Yahoo Sports report, the NBA did not change the logo, which has been in use since 1969, because it did not recognize that West was the player on the logo.
According to the report, the NBA thinks about not having an individual player as its logo, because because there are so many players who were instrumental in growing the game, it’s better to be generic.
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 in Cordillera, Edwards, Colo.
Prosecutors dropped the charges in 2004 after the prosecutor failed to testify. A civil case she filed against him was settled out of court in 2005 for an unknown amount.
Bryant was Irving’s idol when he grew up in West Orange, NJ, and disturbed YouTube clips of the Lakers icon. They became friends, and Irving FaceTimed Bryant of the Cavaliers locker room, just after winning the 2016 NBA title.