Petition calls for Kobe Bryant to be added to NBA logo

More than a million people have backed a petition to use Kobe Bryant’s image as a new official NBA logo.

Bryant, considered to be one of the greatest basketball players in the game’s history, died on Sunday.

He and his 13-year-old daughter Gianna were among nine people killed in a helicopter crash in California.

The current logo was designed by Alan Siegel, and features the silhouette of another great LA Lakers player Jerry West, who is 81 years old.

Writing on Change.org, the petition’s founder Nick M said: “With the untimely and unexpected passing of the great Kobe Bryant please sign this petition in an attempt to immortalise him forever as the new NBA logo.”

Supporters have also tweeted their own versions of the logo, mocked up with Bryant’s silhouette.

Apart from a tweak to the font in 2017, the logo for the National Basketball Association has been the same since it was first designed in 1971.

It is not clear whether the organisation would consider updating its logo with Bryant’s silhouette.

West, who was also once the LA Laker’s general manager, is yet to comment on the campaign.

However, West did pay heartfelt tribute to Bryant after news of his death was confirmed, telling CBS News he felt as though he had lost a son.

“This loss of Kobe, Gianna, and everyone on board, is beyond tragic and incomprehensible,” he later said in a statement. “I will love Kobe forever and always cherish the time that I spent with him.

“I watched him grow from an energetic kid into the man he became, making a difference in so many people’s life. He has left the world a better place.”

source: BBC