Jerry West: Basketball legend immortalized on NBA logo also brought 17-year-old Kobe Bryant to Lakers in 1996
Jerome Alan West, popularly known as Jerry West, has the honor most basketball players across the world covet — he is the athlete the popular National Basketball Association's logo is based on. The former Los Angeles Lakers player, who is now a basketball executive, has had a distinguished playing career, spanning 14 years as a point/shooting guard from 1960 to 1974.
West had a highly successful career in the NBA, with 14 All-star appearances, 9 Finals appearances and one NBA Championship (1972). He continues to hold the NBA record for the highest points per game average in a playoff series with 46.3. The basketball star was also a member of the first five NBA All-Defensive Teams, which was introduced when he was 32 years old. West is also the only player in the history of the famous basketball association to be named Finals MVP despite being on the losing team.
The legendary player, who was voted as one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA history in 1996, was also inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 1980. However, his popularity and excellence in the game were not the reasons why the NBA logo was modeled after him.
The NBA, in 1969, sought to revamp its image by adding an iconic style and branding that reflected the soul of basketball in America. The famed basketball association subsequently approached New Yorker and Cornell alumni, brand identity consultant Alan Siegel, to help them create a fresh look for the NBA brand that would set them apart from rival associations like the ABA at the time. Siegel, who had overseen the creation of the new Major League Baseball logo a year before, took on the task to formulate a logo and did not let them down.
After browsing through thousands of images from basketball games, Siegel came across a picture of #44 Los Angeles Lakers player Jerry West which he instantly found striking. The photo showed West dribbling with his left hand and angling his body to shield the ball from the defender. The picture, taken by Wen Roberts, came to be a defining moment in the NBA's history.
Siegel said the photo was dynamic, verticle, and captured the essence of the game. West's silhouette, with the iconic red and blue to either side, now ornaments the NBA’s image representation. Since 1969, the logo has become synonymous with basketball not just in America but across the world, generating the association billions of dollars in licensing revenue.
The NBA, however, to this day, has refused to formally acknowledge that its logo is based on West's image. The association reportedly believes that the logo represents all NBA players, and permitting it to be recognized as based on one man would diminish its universal appeal.
Meanwhile, West moved on to become a successful coach and a member of multiple front office teams. He also won the NBA Executive of the Year Award twice for his contributions in the field of basketball. In light of Kobe Bryant's death, hundreds of thousands of fans and followers of the late NBA legend have signed a petition asking the NBA to change the logo to feature Bryant.