Issue #007: Should the NBA change their logo?
An idea for the NBA to update their logo
Since 1969, the NBA logo has contained Jerry West’s silhouette. Jerry himself doesn’t even like the logo and wants them to change it.
That video is from 4 years ago! The conversation is being brought up again after Kyrie shared an Instagram post this week proposing that the logo be changed to Kobe Bryant.
Vanessa Bryant shared her approval of the idea and the debate started. Should the NBA change its logo? Should the logo be changed to Kobe? Which player should be the logo? That’s without even asking the bigger question, will the NBA change its logo? Probably not. Mostly because they would have to shell out a boat load of cash to use another athlete’s likeness as their logo. In reality, that should’ve already been the case for Jerry West.
Why hasn’t Jerry been paid? The NBA is reluctant to admit that the logo is Jerry West, even though the designer has said so. If the NBA changed the logo to someone else, they’d have to pony up.
I agree with Kyrie that it’s time for the logo to change though. The league was made popular by Black players and the majority of the players and fans today are Black. The Jerry West logo doesn’t represent what this league is today, and has been, and it should. As for Kyrie’s proposal, Kobe should be considered and would be one of the top options. But he’s not my first pick1.
There’s no denying Kobe’s greatness and impact on the league. This generation of stars grew up watching Kobe, some were even mentored by him. He dedicated his life to the game of basketball. I understand why there would be demand for him to become the logo. However, we also can’t ignore all of Kobe’s life when making this choice. It’s easy to remember his legacy as an NBA player, but we can’t ignore that he also had credible allegations of sexual assault against him. That has to be factored in when making a consideration like this. Especially when there are other worthy options.
I like that Kyrie’s suggestion has sparked a conversation around the NBA logo though. It got the Bad Idea Dept. flowing with the next potentially bad idea. In order for this idea to work though, I need you to accept some assumptions. First, that the NBA is willing to change its logo. Second, that the NBA will pay whatever the cost would be to use a player’s likeness in the logo (because they should). With those assumptions in place, I propose that the NBA change its logo. In fact, I think they should change it every year. The idea is this. The NBA should change its logo every year to be a different NBA player. The only rule is that it can’t be a player that is actively in the league.
This would be the best way for the NBA to update its brand. It would give them the opportunity to highlight the plethora of stars that have come through the league, without having to pick one. It would be a great avenue to help younger fans learn more about the history of the league. Around the announcement of the new logo, the NBA could run promos and release materials to explain the significance of the player selected. The league has so much history, they should lean into that past to show the growth the league has made and where it started. They should honor the various athletes that helped make the league what it is today.
It would give different franchise’s the opportunity to be in the spotlight, especially ones that aren’t as popular. It could help bring new fans into the league to support their local team. It would be a huge marketing win for the league. They could build up the anticipation every year before they unveil who the next logo will be and they could get fans engaged with it by allowing them to vote on the next logo. There would even be new merchandise that fans could buy each year.
It doesn’t even have to be every year either. I could see it being every 2 years or every 5 years. Let the player selected relish in the moment and build the anticipation up even more for when it’s time to change it again. The NBA has no shortage of past stars they could use and they have iconic imagery that would be perfect as the logo. Think of Kareem’s skyhook, or a Dr. J dunk/layup, or a Magic pass. The possibilities are endless.
This would be the best way to bring the NBA logo into the 21st Century. It’s long overdue.
More stuff…
Basketballer of the Week
You may remember hearing the name Kelly Loeffler a lot in 2020. One of the reasons was because she was part of the ownership group of the WNBA’s Atlanta Dream. After she criticized the league for their support of the Black Lives Matter movement, the Dream players wore shirts supporting Loeffler’s opponent, Raphael Warnock, in her upcoming Senate race.
It was a powerful statement, and other WNBA teams and players started to do the same. Loeffler eventually lost the election to Warnock. As the election was unfolding, there was also growing support and pressure for Loeffler to sell her ownership stake in the team. On Friday, that became reality and part of the new ownership group was former WNBA star, Renee Montgomery.
Renee is a former UCONN Husky who played 11 seasons in the WNBA and won 2 titles. She sat out the 2020 season to focus on social justice issues and recently announced her retirement from the league. Now, she’s become the first former player to become both an owner and executive of a WNBA franchise.
Doesn’t matter that she’s not playing anymore. Once a basketballer, always a basketballer. Plus, she went to UCONN, so she gets special treatment. Congrats to Renee Montgomery, the Basketballer of the Week.
Video Breakdown
Introducing the Peach Baskets Video Dept., where we breakdown a clip from a game. Here’s the clip that will be analyzed:
It was a game between the Wizards and Nuggets. There was less than 10 seconds left in the game and the Nuggets were trailing the Wizards by 2, 112-110. This means that the Nuggets just needed 2 points to tie the Wizards. You might be saying to yourself, “no shit, Sherlock!” Well, it ends up being a super important detail. The Wizards miss a shot and the Nuggets rebound the ball. They have a 3 on 1 fast break. Jamal Murray could take the ball to the hoop himself, or pass it to one of the two teammates that are also running down the court for them to score. Instead, Murray stops at the 3-point line. This appears to be so that he can draw the ONE Wizards defender to himself and leave his other 2 teammates wide open. Michael Porter Jr. and Facundo Campazzo, who are the other two teammates, end up being wide open, but they also decided to stop at the 3-point line. It’s as if the Wizards cast a spell on the court and put up an invisible force field around the 3-point line that prevented any Nuggets player from crossing the 3-point line to get closer to the hoop. That or a spell that forced them to think they needed a 3 instead of a 2. As you may recall, they only needed 2 points to tie the game and presumably send the game to overtime, not 3, so it makes ZERO sense why these players stopped running and didn’t try to get closer to the hoop where it is much easier to score.
With the clock winding down, Murray, who’s now defended, has to force a tough pass to Campazzo. He rushes a 3 and misses. Murray himself even called out the play:
You can even see that a THIRD Nugget had entered the frame, along with a second Wizards defender. Making it a 4 on 2 fast break, and there was still about 3 seconds left. The Peach Baskets Video Dept. has determined that this was a bad play by the Nuggets.
Zlatan vs. LeBron
Soccer star, Zlatan Ibrahimović called out LeBron James for using his platform to speak out on various issues, including politics. Zlatan said LeBron should stick to playing basketball.
No dude. You’re wrong.
See you next week!
I’d put MJ, Bill Russell, Kareem, Magic, Larry Bird, and even Dr. J ahead of him. LeBron too, when he eventually retires in 20 years.