Kyrie Irving received support from Vanessa Bryant on Wednesday after the Brooklyn Nets star posted on social media that the NBA should change its logo to Kobe Bryant from Jerry West.
Irving posted a photo of Bryant superimposed over the current NBA logo on his Instagram page, adding the caption, “Gotta Happen. Idc what anyone says. BLACK KINGS BUILT THE LEAGUE.”
CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM
Vanessa Bryant caught wind of Irving’s social media post and shared it on her Instagram Stories. She added, “Love this @kyrieirving.”
The movement to change the logo gained steam in the immediate aftermath of Kobe Bryant’s sudden death last year. He, his daughter Gigi, and several others were killed in a helicopter crash in January 2020. Wednesday was the anniversary of the memorial for those who died in the tragedy.
West told ESPN in 2017 that he would be up for the logo to change but didn’t specify who he thought should be the new logo.
KYRIE IRVING DEMANDS NBA TO CHANGE ITS LOGO: ‘BLACK KINGS BUILT THE LEAGUE’
“First of all, I wish that had never gotten out, that logo,” he said. “No I do, really. I’ve said it more than once. It’s flattering that it’s me, and I know it is me, and it is flattering. To me, I played in the time when they first started to market the league, there were five people they were gonna consider. I didn’t find out about it until the late commissioner told me about it, Walter Kennedy, and then obviously the New York Times had a big article about it.
“Again, it’s flattering, but if I were the NBA, I would be embarrassed about it. I don’t like to do anything to call attention to myself, and when people [call him The Logo], that’s just not who I am, period. If they would want to change it, I wish they would. In many ways I wish they would.”
Sources familiar with the league told Yahoo Sports that there is no interest in having an individual player as its logo because there are so many who have been instrumental in the growth of the NBA.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
Sources also told Yahoo Sports in January that the NBA has never expressed any interest in moving forward with change, despite more than 3 million people signing a Change.org petition asking the league to make Bryant the new logo.
Fox News’ Dan Canova contributed to this report.
