Kobe Bryant has been gone for over a year now. For all basketball fans, the day of his death plays out like a bad dream. You turned on the TV and stared in disbelief at the news of his tragic death. He was an icon for many and his legacy will live on. Although the question remains: How do you honor a basketball player that was bigger than the game of basketball? 

Sports, like most institutions, have traditions. A tradition that has maintained its popularity since 1934 is “retiring” a player’s jersey, one of the highest honors in professional sports. It’s when a franchise hangs up a player’s jersey because of their contributions to said franchise and no player can ever wear that jersey number again. However,  in Kobe’s case, his jerseys were already retired back in 2017. With Bryant’s death in early 2020,  the NBA had to find an alternative way to honor one of its superstars. 

After his death, the NBA changed the All-Star Game MVP award to be in his name. Many players changed their jersey number to informally retire Bryant’s jersey. With all that being said and done, there was still a growing movement to formally honor Bryant somehow. A trend started on social media that was the biggest idea of them all: Change the official NBA logo to Bryant. 

The idea itself is good-natured and has strong traction. The original petition to change the logo received over 2.7 million signatures in the first three days after his death. As of March 2021, it has 3.5 million signatures. Kyrie Irving recently posted a photoshopped picture of Bryant on his official Instagram account with the caption “Gotta Happen, idc what anyone says.” The post itself has almost two million likes. Bryant mentored many of today’s NBA players who echo a similar sentiment: change the logo. 

Adam Silver, the commissioner of the NBA, has never released a public statement about changing the logo because he doesn’t need to. Logistically, the logo change would be a nightmare. The NBA’s logo can be recognized worldwide. The NBA has been around for 74 years and they are a billion-dollar agency. The logo change would be a complete overhaul of all the merchandising and marketing existing since the league’s inception.  

Nobody can deny the impact that Bryant had on the game of basketball. However, several other players have had impacts on the game as well: LeBron James, Wilt Chamberlain, Larry Bird, just to name a few. Basketball is a team sport, and it has taken more than just one person to get where it is today. If the logo is changed to Kobe, then it leaves the other pioneers of the sport in the dust. What happens if one of those guys passes away unexpectedly? People will want the logo changed to that specific player. It’s better to leave it the way it is. 

Kobe Bryant wasn’t just a basketball player. He was a legend. He had so many trademarks that made him special. His competitive spirit. The Mamba Mentality. His ability to take a game over at a moment’s notice. He was also a human being. A father of four girls. A  husband and a family man. When Bryant passed away, it left a hole in the heart of the NBA. He was a mentor and a role model to many. 

The NBA doesn’t need to change the logo to honor Bryant. People will never forget who he was on and off the court. He will be remembered as one of the greatest players in NBA history, as he rightfully should.