Jerry West is more immoral than Hulk Hogan and his Hulkamaniacs. However, at some point, many believe there needs to be a next NBA logo, or a new one created to replace him.
Logos are as important to brands as the products those brands sell. After all, Nike gear might sometimes be off, but it’s swoosh is so recognizable on a global scale, it forever gets the benefit of the doubt.
That rant will make sense in a second, we promise. And by we, I 100 percent mean this disembodied voice coming from your laptop via words scribbled on your screen. Am I inside your laptop? Or is your laptop becoming sentient, and a huge fan of corporate branding?!
We may never…
In 2008, BP Energy Corporation needed a new logo. Something simple, yet creative and imaginative enough to show the world that BP cared about how the world got its energy. The company spent 211 million dollars on this. For a drawing. Of something that looks like a green flower with two letters. 211 million dollars.
The whole point of this story is that a logo is important. Important enough to spend a fortune on, and important enough to spend months designing.
Interestingly enough, the NBA did neither of these things, and they still managed to create one of the most iconic logos of all time. Using a picture of a future Hall-of-Famer and three colors, Alan Siegel created a symbol that represents the NBA.
Just goes to show you that dumping money into something isn’t exactly a cure-all.
As you probably know, the man on the NBA logo is none other than Lakers legend Jerry West. Besides being one of the best guards in league history (as well as a pretty solid executive), West was, and in some ways still is, the face of the NBA.
Siegel claims when he was contracted by the NBA to design their logo, he knew that he was going to do something centered on West. By his estimation, he drew up around fifty designs. Not a single one of them had anyone but West as the subject.
Not Shaq. Not Michael Rapport. Not even Ian Clark. Though, to be fair, none of those people were alive during that time, and Michael Rapport isn’t even a shooty hoops player – he’s a video on demand superstar!
Siegel knew that the sharpshooting, maniacally hardworking guard was the perfect ideal of what NBA players should live up to. West would spend hours in the gym, holding himself to a standard that was almost impossibly high.
One night, after recording an unofficial quadruple double (unofficial since blocks were not yet counted), West claimed he wasn’t even happy with his play. In his eyes, he had not been good enough on the defensive end.
Someone who is this good at basketball should have an ego the size of a mountain. Not Jerry West.
Ironically, the man whose image would be posted in every high profile basketball game in North America was painfully shy. Teammates described him as a quiet introvert who could go days without speaking. West wasn’t a trash-talker, but he let his play do the talking for him.
Because of this, it makes sense that West wasn’t exactly pleased with the logo. Not because of how it looked, but because of all the attention that was now literally drawn to him. After all, his nickname had become “The Logo”. Everyone was talking about him.
In 2017, West went on record claiming he wished that it never even came out that he was the man on the logo. He doubled down by saying that “If I were the NBA, I would be embarrassed about it.”
This begged the question, if not West, then who? After all, West hasn’t played a game in almost 50 years. Perhaps the logo needs an update? The next NBA logo debate began to rage on!
The Logo himself had some interesting opinions. Michael Jordan was West’s first choice, because of his tenacity on both ends of the floor. While it might have been a tongue in cheek comment, he also mentioned that Adam Silver would be a good replacement.
Realistically, the league isn’t putting Silver up there. No offense, Mr. Commissioner. And Jordan might be the GOAT (debatably), but he hasn’t played in a while either.
What are the chances LeBron gets a shot at representing the league he has dominated for so long? What about Kobe Bryant?
Then again, picking someone without a problematic issue, might be best – it’s also why West is perfect as the Logo.
For now, West will have to remain as the emblem of one of the most exciting leagues in the world. While it might pain him to do it, at least he’s got something to look forward to and possibly even a successor under his wing.
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