For 51 years Jerry West, former Laker, scout, coach and manager, has been the silhouette of the NBA logo. But after the recent tragedy of the death of basketball legend Kobe Bryant, fans wonder, should one of our country’s most inspiring athletes, Kobe Bryant, take over the honor of being the NBA logo?

Bryant entered the NBA at 17 years old, and, because of his success at such a young age, he gives many young athletes in today’s society the hope that they can achieve similar successes. Today, especially here at Hollis-Brookline, it is the norm for students to go off to college right after high school and receive a degree, but for Kobe, the NBA was his college, and three-pointers were his degree. “Kobe was a very hard-working athlete that showed the world that even straight out of high school you can become one of the all-time greats. He was an amazing player and was very loyal to the Lakers, and even though I’m a Celtics fan, I respected Kobe and the admirable player, coach, and person he was,” said varsity basketball player Connor Russell ‘20.

Kobe wasn’t only an inspiration to fellow basketball players, but to many other aspiring athletes as well. “It is every kid’s dream at one point or another to become a famous athlete. Kobe worked hard to make his dreams come true. For me, the dance floor was my dream growing up, rather than the court, and for any athlete to see someone reach their dreams like that, at such a young age, is admirable,” said Bethany Pender, a HB graduate who grew up watching basketball and Kobe’s skills.

Considering Kobe’s impact on people both on and off of the court, fans wonder how we should commemorate the loss of the legend. The loss of any loved one is a tragic and difficult thing to deal with, but the loss of one of your own teammates, who you see each day, and bring everything into the game with is a whole other bond broken. “I can’t even imagine how hard it must have been on Kobe’s close teammates and friends after his death. I think that the NBA did a great job of commemorating Kobe as many players wore his old numbers, 8 and 24, in remembrance,” said Russell. Russell agrees that making Bryant the new NBA logo would be a great way to carry out his legacy for years to come.

For a coach it can be an especially difficult thing to tackle the grief and void of losing one of your players. “As a coach, I think it would be important for us to celebrate the success of the player that we have lost. Specifically, with someone as well known as Kobe Bryant, we should let his actions set the example to the other athletes,” said Brian Bumpus, HB athletic director and wrestling coach. But, like many others with opinions on the logo change, Bumpus doesn’t agree with the change. “So many other great athletes in the sports industry have come and gone, I just don’t think changing the logo in honor of someone passing is such a great idea,” said Bumpus.

Because of the future Hall of Famer’s inspiration to so much of today’s society, fans came together after his death petitioning for the change. According to The Street, over two million fans and admirers signed their names on a petition to give the fallen Laker, Jerry West’s spot to Kobe as the NBA logo. West, who has known Kobe since the beginning of his career, agrees that the logo should be changed. West became the logo in 1969. West never asked to be the logo, nor did he even want to be. His image was selected by Alan Siegel who was in search of a better image than the American Basketball Association when he stumbled upon West’s image. 

Whether or not Kobe should be the logo is still the big question, and there has been no talk from the NBA themselves on whether or not it will happen.