To call it an open secret would be an understatement. In his lifetimeDavid Stern surprisingly never wanted to “admit” that the league logo represented Jerry West. “ Although it was never officially claimed that the logo was Jerry West, it looks very similar to him », laughed in 2021 his successor, Adam Silver.
Change of posture today for the latter, while the former Lakers legend passed away earlier in the week. “ The NBA logo was created long before I joined the league, but there was never any doubt in my mind, or in Jerry West's mind, that his image was the inspiration for it », Finally formulates the big boss of the NBA.
An obvious fact which requires us to return to the origins of this logo, in 1969. Behind this iconic design, there is a man, Alan Siegel, at length surveyed by NBA.com in 2021. The reputation of this pioneer in brand strategy was well established in the 1960s. His agency worked for many large companies (Bank of America, AARP, Xfinity, HP, Dell Computers, etc.).
But also for a cousin league to the NBA: the MLB. The work of Alan Siegel's agency with the latter attracted the attention of the “commissioner” at the time, J. Walter Kennedy. The logos of baseball and basketball leagues were going to look similar. Blue, red and white to surround the silhouette of an athlete.
Alan Siegel admired Jerry West
Get a new logo? A necessity for the young NBA including the previous reasons, grotesque, could hardly generate the enthusiasm of the general public. “ The NBA had a lot of problems with its reputation at the time, it wanted to improve its image », remembers Alan Siegel, himself an outstanding high school basketball player, who has the distinction of having teamed up with… Larry Brown in Long Beach (New York).
To design this new emblem for the league, the creator needs inspiration, an image. Direction Sport Magazine whose editor-in-chief, Dick Schaap, is a close friend for “ take a look at his photo folder “. There, he came across this famous shot of Jerry West, ball in hand. A moment captured by Lakers photographer Wen Roberts, who would embody the Great League for decades to come.
Alan Siegel followed the future Hall of Famer extensively in college and the NBA. “ I always admired him, but I liked the photo because it was vertical and there was movement in it. I was one of his fans, he was one of those people who marked the history of the NBA », justifies the creator whose favorite player is now more than halfway through his professional career, which began in 1960.
A discovery years later
“ But when I designed the logo, I never mentioned that it was based on a photo of him. We discovered it years later », Reveals Alan Siegel. Why ask the question after all. The MLB logo, designed by Jerry Dior in 1968had not been modeled on any particular player.
While many thought they saw Hall of Famer Harmon Killebrew in this design, its designer, Jerry Dior, instead intentionally made it ” ambiguous » from all points of view: the drummer could be right-handed or left-handed and of any ethnic origin.
Alan Siegel gets to work and asks the league for $14,000. Which is not much according to him, but our man, a sports fan, sees it as a “ prestigious mission “. His father had tickets to the Yankees, Dodgers, Giants, Knicks and Rangers. “ I grew up at the Garden and when I was a high school basketball star, I played at the Garden. I was very excited to do this project. »
Not a player dunking
He then makes 15 to 20 different sketches. “ Just in case. But everyone rallied around the direction we ultimately chose for the design. I didn't think it was as powerful as the MLB one, but it was distinctive and we all liked the verticality. I didn't want to do something with players dunking. I have always admired guards and versatile players. »
Alan Siegel presents his creation to a seduced J. Walter Kennedy. Thirty minutes later, it’s validated. He does not yet imagine the impact of his creation, which offers an obvious breath of modernity to the NBA, across the globe. “ I found 67 logos around the world, for all types of sports, that are partly inspired by this logo. »
An international impact which will not prevent the first person concerned, Jerry West, from maintaining a complicated relationship with this motive. “ Jerry made it clear that he wasn't comfortable with being known as 'The Logo'. He felt the logo should represent something bigger than himself. Spit out Jerry », confirms Adam Silver today.
The former Lakers legend would never stop expressing this discomfort in the following decades. A few years ago, he explained that he could not “ escape » just by putting on your pair of socks provided by the NBA in the morning. With a feeling of being ” look at » by its own stylized reflection. “ I almost feel like I have to apologize for this symbol. It's not funny. »
Surprised by his reaction
In 2017, he repeated it openly: “ I've said it more than once: it's flattering but I'd rather it wasn't me. I played at a time when the league was starting to sell out, I knew that former commissioner J. Walter Kennedy had a list of five names, but I didn't know until very late that he had chosen me. Once again, it's flattering but if I were in the NBA's shoes, it would bother me. »
“ I was surprised he wasn't more enthusiastic about it », Reacts Alan Siegel in response to this positioning. This one remembers when the MLB logo came out. Seven or eight players had contacted him to ask if the logo was based on them. “ They wanted it to be them. One of them, a famous player, offered me $50,000 to say it was him. »
The big gap with Jerry West in short. “ The vast majority of people would like this symbol to be theirs, even though I never intended it to be theirs. He should be proud that the symbol is based on him. It's not him literally, but it's based on his dribbling and movement style. But the more I heard about him and the more I understood him, the more he didn't want it to be him. »
A debate relaunched
David Stern confided to him that he did not want the shape of a player, that he would have preferred a more abstract logo. Without however taking the initiative to review the design during his thirty years in office (1984-2014). The debate on the question will come alive in the following years, notably following the death of Kobe Bryant in January 2020.
Kyrie Irving being one of the most insistent that the “Black Mamba” become the league's new motif to pay homage to him. “ The Black Kings Built the NBA », even blurted out the playmaker. Alan Siegel, who defends himself against any form of “ racism » in his choice of a white player, is of the opinion that we “ Don't change something unless there's a compelling reason to do so “.
This reason did not present itself, because 55 years after its brushstroke, this logo present on all player jerseys, accessories and events related to the league, is still there. As if Jerry West, despite himself, had never really left the stage. In 2011, his autobiography “West By West” was released in bookstores. On the cover, the photo that inspired the logo…
