Former Duke basketball star Kyrie Irving wants the NBA to change its logo.
Ever since the tragic death of NBA legend Kobe Bryant, there have been several calls for the NBA to change its logo to the fallen star Bryant, and a former Duke basketball star brought those calls to the forefront on Wednesday afternoon.
Kyrie Irving posted on Instagram that the league needs to change its logo, citing that it’s “gotta happen.”
Bryant served as a mentor to Irving, and the former Blue Devil took the tragic death of Bryant specifically hard last January, leaving Madison Square Garden upon hearing the news and not returning for the Brooklyn Nets’ game against the New York Knicks.
Irving was also extremely emotional at the public service held for Bryant at the Staples Center.
One year after the death of Kobe Bryant, Kyrie Irving honored his close friend by wearing his jersey to the Barclays Center as the Nets took on the Miami Heat.
Vanessa Bryant, the wife of Kobe, complimented and supported Irving’s idea on her Instagram story with the caption, “love this.”
Vanessa Bryant supports Kyrie Irving’s idea of changing the NBA logo to Kobe. pic.twitter.com/o2TJSnFNJv
— Matthew Moreno (@Matthew__Moreno) February 25, 2021
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The NBA seemed to shut down the idea of the league changing its logo after the death of Kobe Bryant despite support from many players around the league as well as the creator of the current logo, Alan Siegel, and Jerry West, whom the logo is modeled after.
Following the tragic events of Bryant’s death, the NBA did change the name of the All-Star Game MVP to the NBA All-Star Game Kobe Bryant MVP Award.
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Kobe Bryant won the award four times in his career as Kyrie Irving has won the All-Star Game MVP Award once, but it was Kawhi Leonard who won the award last year in its first year with a new name.
Irving was recently named as a starter to his seventh NBA All-Star Game, which will take place on Sunday, March 7.