After advocating for the change on Instagram, Nets guard Kyrie Irving doubled down on his belief that legend Kobe Bryant should be depicted on the NBA logo.
“We want to set a standard and precedent, like this is excellence,” Irving told reporters, including ESPN’s Malika Andrews after a win over the Kings on Thursday. “Kobe Bryant. Logo. Yes. Needs to happen. I don’t care what anyone says.”
Ever since Bryant tragically perished in a helicopter crash in Jan. 2020 with his daughter Gianna and seven others, there has been a movement to put the Hall-of-Famer on the NBA logo.
As Andrews notes, a Change.org petition to make the Lakers legend the NBA logo, started after Bryant’s untimely death, has garnered over 3.2 million signatures. However, it remains unlikely that the logo, currently depicting basketball legend Jerry West, is changed anytime soon. There are several other high-profile names that would likely get consideration if the logo were to be changed.
For Irving, however, a change involving Bryant would be the ultimate honor of his legacy.
“He was the standard for our generation and he will continue on,” Irving said. “And I want that to be something in history that is changed forever. That our generation was part of that change. And, you know, if that means that I have to lead that forward and get the conversation going, then great. But I think he deserves it, I think his family deserves it, I think we deserve it as seeing greatness personified, as Mamba. And anyone that’s coming into the league should know that that’s the example that was set.”
Just leave it or have no person as the logo. No one is the NFL logo.
Let’s get the conversation started- it doesn’t make sense- conversation over.
Is there something wrong with the current logo? Businesses don’t normally change their logo because one employee has an idea.
Jerry West said he was embarrassed to be the logo, he started the conversation himself.
“Businesses don’t normally change their logo because one employee has an idea”
Have you ever had an app on your phone? They change their logos constantly for no reason at all.
It should be Steph Curry, he is the face of the game worldwide, and is the most popular player in the world – but just not in America, where Lebron (who bought as much NBA media as he could to stop making fun of him and instead call him the goat 24-7, therefore influencing fans to think this fallacy) is more popular, but his popularity is falling as he is a team hopper, no different to KD.
Steph = 1 team = most popular overall player = the new logo
He is.
– MJ
Lol , I know many people who don’t watch the NBA and have no idea who Steph Curry is , but yet they know who Michael Jordan is.
You couldn’t just leave it at your first comment, which I agreed with and upvoted. You just had to fire off some homer nonsense about Steph Curry that is not even close to being true. Vintage Marty posting.
Kyrie is an idiot. I love Kobe the player and how he turned himself around but don’t make an icon out of the guy. People old enough to remember his Colorado incident know he was guilty. The reporters covering the case thought it was a foregone conclusion he was getting convicted. How he got off, matters.
My thoughts exactly
Just because these naive kids think he was great, the NBA knows better than to make him, of all people, their logo
And if it’s anyone, how could it be Kobe over Jordan? That’s just nonsense
Jordan got suspended for gambling in spite of David Stern’s cover-up. Yeah, great choice. The philanderer (at best) Bryant or the gambler, Jordan. Why not just pick Reggie Harding?
@vanling Jordan was never suspended. Stern would have handed out the suspension if there was one.
He got suspended? Prove it.
Wow. There are still worshipping suckers out there. The “great” Michael being suspended would have destroyed his image and brutally injured the NBA so Stern and his spin doctors told MJ to say he was retiring to save his reputation. Only a fool buys the retirement story.
That’s a story too, though I note you’re not bothering to say much about it, so I question your bent.
There was pressure; there was ego; most fans thought baseball would be easy for him, the idol-worshippers; Pretty sure the Bulls would not have been favorites; and he did have a problem to impinge on.
No way Stern suspends Jordan. He may have threatened it but it would be empty. He probably cussed which impresses some but not pro NBAers.
I think we know how he got off…
That’s how he got in trouble to begin with…
Hey-ohhhhhh
Never forget the “dead guy” part of all of this. Don’t forget Michael Jackson was a pariah until he passed away. Then everyone glossed over his obvious flaws and focused on his music for the next several years. Then that documentary happened and all of a sudden it was okay to see him for he was, a child molester. In 5 years, that woman in Colorado will be part of a Netflix documentary and Kobe will be a villain once again. The NBA needs to be smart and not have to change things all over again at that time.
Ohhh I didn’t know you were in the room
RickEO go back and read articles during and immediately after the case. Not the fluff that was written after Kobe’s death.
“In the Kobe Bryant case, it was abominable how the accuser was treated. Everyone was at fault,” Mark Shaw, an attorney and author who covered the case for ESPN and USA Today, told ThinkProgress. “This poor woman, they wore her down, and it happened from the first hearings.”
Again, glad he turned it around but him being the logo is a joke. It’s like making Bill Cosby the CBS logo cause Dr. Huxtible was awesome on tv.
“According to Shapiro’s book, however, there are other women who had similar encounters with Bryant — one in particular who was able to escape before an assault occurred — who wouldn’t cooperate with the Colorado trial because of how the alleged victim in that case was treated.”
More food for thought
J-butte, good research and logic, so rare to see these days. Very refreshing!
And MartyMcrea, are you bipolar cuz you say one thing that is on point and then another that is the craziest stuff I’ve ever heard in my life
I’m a homer, but even I don’t honk Curry is the face of the nba
And you better hope MJ doesn’t see you starting rumors about that murder bs, he’s vindictive as hell and has nothing but time and money
Was Kobe that much of a fan favorite?
I am sorry he died the way he did, it was a tragedy for sure, but still not one player defines the NBA nor will they.
But Jerry West is cool? Old white guy totally personifies the NBA man.
There’s always someone who brings race into the picture
The messed up by saying it was west in the first place and not just leaving it as the plain, unidentifiable figure it should always have been
As someone that uses them frequently in my work, frontal silhouettes rarely have an identifiable ethnicity
Agreed Abstract
Why have an individual as the logo. Yes would love something to honor Kobe but not the face of the NBA. They said others would be ahead of him and sure Jordan is one. But for any sport using a player as logo not good. Too many in sports world that were great players and controversy as well.
Jordan’s logo is now on most NBA jersey’s….
The MLB logo is believed to be Harmon Killebrew, but most people have forgotten that because it’s not important. Just like most people wouldn’t even know that the logo was Jerry West if people would quit talking about it. When I was growing up, the fact that the logo was West was never really a big topic of conversation. I just always saw the logo as an anonymous basketball player.
Which is exactly what it should be. Because NO player is bigger than the league. Without the league, none of Jordan, Kobe, Bird, Magic, LeBron, or Kareem would be household names. The league is bigger than any individual player.
Mostly agree
*see my comment above
Perfectly said!
Typical of the overreaction society we now live in. Is there any reason why the current logo is an issue? No.
Kobe’s generation was not one of the more influential generations in NBA history. The 2000s NBA was not very highly rated and did not have nearly the “buzz” of the 90s Bulls domination. Actually, I would argue that from that generation, Tim Duncan or Shaq would deserve the honor as much or more than Kobe. Kobe was always overrated due to his Lakers connection, but after he passed away it became much worse. He was a great player, probably top 25 of all time, but let’s stop acting as if we need to put his face on the ball or something.
Steph Curry is the one the NBA should be marketing as the face of the league, BECAUSE HE IS.
No, he’s not. We get it, you’re obsessed with Curry. Try to keep it in your pants.
@hiflew, exactly!
I’m all for appropriate representation, but
Kobe is only seen this way now because he spent all the years since Colorado on a mission to make people completely forget about his days as a sexual predator
Gotta admit he did a lotta good from what I hear, but Kyrie’s logic on this is like his logic on anything else, totally absent
Of anyone in the NBA, why in the H would anyone listen to Kyrie anyway?
Hi flew, good point, or someone else who played with Duncan…David Robinson would be an excellent choice as well…interesting you don’t hear much at all about his charitable work over the years which rivals these guys in today’s game who get praised for it
I say yeah. He should at least be brought to a vote with other icons of the 2000s like Duncan, KG, Shaq. The up and coming players (22-25) watched this guy put in work daily, and would be a great representation of basketball. I get why some would say Jordan, but I say give it a shot.
It should be Steph Curry. MJ already has the jumpman logo everywhere, it literally cant be both.
I’m not for changing the logo at all.
But, why is there this narrative that if it was Jordan it would be the exact same Jumpman logo, as if that’s the only “picture” ever of Jordan?
But why that era?
The greatest players of all time were not playing then, today’s game has more iconic all time stars
I’d say Lebron is 10x more important to basketball than Kobe was and I’m not a Lebron fan
I’m not sure I agree. But it is a different game. Guys like Jordan, Barkley, Bird, and Magic played in a completely different era. It is difficult to compare eras.
Kobe’s entire history is far too problematic for this.
No one should listen to Kyrie Irving, a man who truly thinks the earth is flat, about anything. He’s fun to watch play basketball though, which requires him to not talk about fraudulent theories created to take the attention away from the real world problems caused by people pushing the fraudulent theories.
Fraudulent theories….. you mean all of your takes on the Warriors?
I agree on all your points except that he’s fun to watch…as a W’s fan I’ve never been able to stand the sight of him
As a compromise…if it makes them feel better to change the white silhouette to a black silhouette then by all means go ahead. As someone suggested you can also just have no idea player silhouette at all. BUT if you think making a RAPIST that was universally hated by most every non-Lakers fan gives the best representation of your league and culture then either you are an idiot or your league and culture are toxic and need to change.
You sound like Sally Jessy Raphael and Geraldo Rivera’s kid.
Thank you ck1…it’s crazy how everyone overlooks his controversy
I think it’s mostly these kids that were too young to remember it actually happening
Coming from the guy who thinks the Earth is flat…
Kyrie thinks the earth is flat, so I can’t really roll with what he thinks should be, or in his case, ‘is.’ And if anyone deserves to be the logo, it’s MJ.
Your 1000 percent correct kyrie thinks flat earth is real. Dudes a nut and only in this new america would be consider a rapist as a logo. Like you said if anyone deserves it is mj…
Its not like we said “Jerry” while shooting the ball growing up.
It should be Kobe.
So it should change every decade?
Never said Kobe once…never heard anyone other than Lakers fans say that….seems a bit overblown since his death
For anyone who thinks it should be Jordan, remember he was playing against college Level talent.
Laughable. Jordan was averaging 30 PPG in an era with the fewest possessions per game in the last 50 years. And it’s insulting to his fellow Hall of Famers he played against to say he played against college level talent.
What does Draymond Green think about it?
My vote goes to Larry Bird, Dirk Nowitzki, Luka Doncic or Nikola Jokic!!!
Gee, wonder why you picked those four. What about Chris Mullin and John Stockton? Kyle Korver? Steve Novak? Mark Eaton?
Damn and you have the nerve to imply others are racist when you throw 5 white guys out there
Read both comments again and try your best to understand the tone and context of rct’s reply.
@mcmillan: The reason I threw out five white guys is because I am implying that El Don is a racist for only picking four white guys. I’m literally calling him out for being racist. No idea why this needed to be explained.
‘Cause I ain’t white you idjet!!!
But Bird is the all-time GOAT & Luka might very well end up passing him, so I just enjoy greatness… in my life race don’t exist!
We all come from Adam & we all are the same race, the human type, ya know?
Kobe was a rapist. While an extraordinary basketball-player, he doesn’t deserve the hero worship.
Bingo
I literally have no problem whatsoever with Jerry West being the logo.
Like, who tunes in or tunes out the nba because of the logo?
Doesn’t this dude ever just shut up and play? Just play the game chief!
Nothing like a good logo fight.
Do they need to have another Lakers player on the logo?
If it comes down to Kobe or Jordan, the choice is clear.
How about AC Green for the logo?? 3 time Champion, the NBAs Ironman, and he loves his wife so much that he remained celibate, despite the barrage of strippers Magic sent to his hotel rooms throughout the years
The NBA should not change its logo to honor a particular player. It cheapens NBA history, and that of the professional basketball leagues that preceded it. Of course, I have no doubt they’ll do it if it polls well.
FWIW, the NBA never made a decision to use West as the basis for the logo. The artist the NBA employed to design a logo came across a silhouette of West, liked it and used it.
Stop it kobe passed and it’s sad but that doesn’t mean everything needs to honor him this is ridiculous
Cryie being cryrie and complaining about something
to be fair, anyone saying anything race related here is off base. Kyrie didnt say anything about race here. that said, I dont think him dying in an untimely manner really should have anything to do with it. as much as changing it seems relatively unnessicary, I dont see, if changed, it wouldnt be changed to Jordan. his regard beyond just those knowing basketball would qualify him the most.
There a more than few deserving of being logo of NBA. I think the 5 positions are the way to go.
Center, PF, SF, SG, PG …… all distinctly different. All with their own strengths for gm. Imo a logo should also reflect its history. NBA was here and they were all doing the things you gawk at now yrs ago. There is only more talent today therefore more hype. I’m good with the way it is.
What will kobe’s image be like if nba changes its logo? Him shooting a fadeaway jump shot?
Time to change the statues in South Dakota. Kobe Bryant of all people. What a joke.
Kobe’s Mamba school teaches kids to be selfish.
Kobe got real red-faced & angry when he was being guarded by a white.
Kobe did tv ads in his house and he looked really lonely. Nobody to force himself on.
Kryrie wanted more Kobi konversation, so there.
I believe that the NBA should not change the logo.
However if they were, it should be an iconic player/pose like Dr J going up for a dunk or a Jabbar sky hook
Nothing of Kobe is an iconic pose he’s just a great player who died so he is the flavor of the month