The first-year anniversary of Kobe Bryant’s tragic death has once again re-ignited discussions about changing the NBA’s current logo to his likeness. The public clamor only grew louder when Brooklyn Nets superstar Kyrie Irving recently aired his support for the movement.
Kobe, after all, is a beloved figure all over the world. To this day, millions of heartbroken fans still cannot fathom the reality that the Los Angeles Lakers legend is no longer with us physically. Some believe it’s only fitting to honor Bryant with the ultimate tribute by associating the league’s branding and image to his silhouette.
As lovely as that sounds for his millions of devoted fans, grief may be clouding people’s judgments a bit too much in this scenario. The NBA has already opposed the idea of basing the logo on an individual player.
Here are three reasons why Kobe Bryant as the new NBA logo isn't happening anytime soon.
1. The NBA does not want to give the logo an identity
By now, it’s like an open secret that Hall of Famer Jerry West is the inspiration for the NBA’s iconic logo. It’s blatantly obvious, as even the logo designer, Alan Siegel, has admitted to using West’s picture when he drew the symbol. The NBA’s logo is pretty much as synonymous with West as Michael Jordan’s Jumpman sigil.
But despite the entire world knowing this tidbit, the league refuses to acknowledge this as a fact even to this day. As far as they are concerned, it’s a default image of a completely random player who just happens to be dribbling the ball in the same manner as Jerry West in this photo.
The simple reason? The NBA does not want to be associated with just one individual, considering the number of great players that made the league to what it is today.
This has been the same tune Commissioner Adam Silver has been playing in terms of dealing with the public outcry of a Kobe Bryant logo. The NBA has kept a firm stand about this for years and looks like they will not give in even for a player as popular as Bryant.
2. It will be a commercial nightmare for the league
There’s another glaring economical reason why the league won’t just change its logo out of the blue. The NBA has become a money-making machine even outside of its ventures from basketball, bringing in huge profits from merchandise, partnership deals, and sponsors who all use that unofficial Jerry West-logo.
Suddenly changing it to Bryant’s likeness, or to anyone else for this matter, entails a massive global overhaul that the league does not want to deal with right now.
The NBA already has its hands full with its COVID-19 health and safety protocols. Adding what could have been a completely avoidable problem like this one is not something they’re prepared to go through.
Sure, it’s nice in theory since honoring an all-time great like Bryant would be terrific PR, but it’s just not a pragmatic choice in the long run.
Remember last season when LeBron James was barred from giving his no.23 jersey to Anthony Davis due to the massive jersey rollbacks Nike has to do around the world?
Now that’s just because of one player on one team. Imagine how the league will handle pretty much re-branding their entire identity just to honor Bryant.
3. It opens Pandora’s Box of biases
Kobe Bryant’s death is truly a national tragedy. No one deserves to go out in that manner, regardless of stature. Still, it’s pretty clear that the NBA just wants to remain objective in terms of this whole logo situation fiasco.
Let’s say the league does decide to put Bryant’s image as the permanent logo. What happens when another legend, perhaps even bigger than Kobe one day, passes away? (*knocks on wood*) There’s arguably going to be more public clamor for another logo change.
This scenario just creates total confusion for the league and its fans. Being the face of professional basketball should be considered the greatest tribute there is.
That distinction loses its eminence if the NBA has to deal with debates on whether one player is indeed worthy enough to become the league’s symbol, let alone be forced to change it every time someone great passes away.
The NBA, of course, already poured out beautiful tributes to commemorate Kobe as a basketball player and an outstanding human being.
We’ve seen the eight seconds and 24-second violations performed by players around the time of his death. The NBA even created a new NBA All-Star format in his honor and altered the All-Star MVP award in his name.
However many reasons there are that we can't have Kobe Bryant as the NBA logo, it takes nothing away from his legacy.
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