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The best way the NBA can honor Kobe Bryant

ByAmaar Burton|
Kobe Bryant (Photo by Jeff Gross/Getty Images)
Kobe Bryant (Photo by Jeff Gross/Getty Images)

The death of former Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant has led to a debate over how the NBA should honor the memory of one of its greatest players.

In the days since the shocking death of Kobe Bryant, a movement has gained momentum on social media for the NBA to change its logo to a silhouette of the Los Angeles Lakers legend.

Bryant was killed Sunday in a helicopter crash that also claimed the lives of his 13-year-old daughter Gianna; her AAU basketball teammates Alyssa Altobelli and Payton Chester; Alyssa’s parents John and Keri Altobelli; Payton’s mother Sarah Chester; high school basketball coach Christina Mauser; and pilot Ara Zobayan.

As you probably know, the current NBA logo is a silhouette of another Lakers legend, Hall of Fame guard Jerry West, who retired in 1974. Petitions have been launched online generating millions of supporters who want to see Kobe, who retired in 2016, become the new symbol of the league.

One side of the debate is that the NBA shouldn’t change a logo its had since 1969 based on what appears to be an emotional, knee-jerk reaction to a tragic event.

It would be creating a solution for a problem that didn’t exist. There’s nothing wrong with the West-inspired logo. Also, changing the logo would be a lengthy, expensive re-branding process.

The logo wasn’t initially meant as a tribute to West. He was one of the league’s best and most marketable players at the time — MVP of the 1969 Finals, still less than a decade into a career that would include 12 All-NBA selections and five All-Defensive Team nods.

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Using West’s image was probably more about current popularity than lifetime achievement.

Of course, one could argue that is exactly why Kobe should be the new logo.

While the West version is a nice picture of a great player, a Kobe-inspired logo would be much more meaningful. It would immortalize a player who gave his all to the game and was then taken away too soon.

Besides, West has said in previous years that he doesn’t even want to be “The Logo” anymore. He doesn’t like how it calls so much attention to him. Back then, he suggested Michael Jordan should be the new logo.

There’s another financial angle to this story. A theory has emerged that the NBA will not change its logo to an obvious image of any player because they would have to pay a ton of money in royalties to that player (or his estate).

Another popular idea has been that the NBA retire both of Kobe’s numbers — No. 8 and No. 24 — across the league.

A few players who currently wear those numbers have already said they plan to change out of respect for Kobe.

It’s a noble and thoughtful gesture. But when the precedent for this was set by Major League Baseball retiring Jackie Robinson‘s No. 42, it sets an extremely high bar for anyone else to live up to for a similar honor.

As great as Kobe was on the court, as influential as he was and successful off the court, can you really compare his social impact to that of Jackie Robinson?

So if not the logo or league-wide retired numbers, what is the best way the NBA can honor Kobe?

I think the NBA should create an Offensive Player of the Year award and name it after Kobe Bryant.

For the record, I’m not saying the league should create the OPOY just because of Kobe. I’ve been arguing for years that this award should exist. But it makes all the sense in the world now for Kobe’s name to be attached to it.

The NFL has an Offensive Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year awards, both separate from the league’s Most Valuable Player.

MLB has the Silver Slugger, Golden Glove and Cy Young awards, also separate from its MVP awards.

The NHL recognizes its top goal scorer, best goalkeeper and best defenseman separately from its MVP.

In every other major American team sport, the best defensive players have their own award and the best offensive players get theirs too, with unique criteria that isn’t lumped into the MVP debate.

The NBA should follow that same philosophy.

Almost every season, the argument over who should win the NBA’s MVP comes down to a question that no one can answer definitively: What is the criteria for MVP?

Each voter has their own definition of “most valuable.” Some voters are all about stats. Some are all about team success. Some are all about versatility. Sometimes the winner is the candidate who most exceeds preseason expectations or the one who had the most intriguing media narrative.

One of the most hotly contested MVP races and criteria conflicts in recent memory actually involved Kobe.

During the 2005-06 season, Kobe averaged a league-best 35.4 points per game. It was the season when he had his famous 81-point game and when he scored 62 in three quarters of another game. The Lakers finished in seventh place in the Western Conference.

Meanwhile, reigning MVP Steve Nash averaged 18.8 points and a league-best 10.5 assists. His Phoenix Suns finished in second place in the West.

Nash wound up winning MVP, his second in a row. It shouldn’t have been a surprise, considering that up to that point, the last player to win MVP on a team that was lower than a No. 2 seed in its conference was Michael Jordan in 1987-88.

Kobe finished fourth in the overall voting behind Nash, LeBron James and Dirk Nowitzki, but Kobe did receive more first-place votes than anyone except Nash.

To this day, ask any Kobe fan and they’ll probably tell you Kobe was robbed in 2006.

If the NBA had an Offensive Player of the Year award back then, Kobe probably would’ve won that while Nash won MVP.

It would be similar to this NFL season, where Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson is expected to run away with the MVP after leading his team to a league-best 14-2 record, while Carolina Panthers running back Christian McCaffrey — who had a record-breaking season for a team that missed the playoffs — is a popular pick to win Offensive Player of the Year.

Creating an OPOY for the NBA can make it so players who have an amazing season don’t walk away empty-handed because their team wasn’t among the elite. It may also clear up some confusion regarding the criteria for MVP.

Now, as far as naming Offensive Player of the Year after Kobe …

It is not meant to take anything away from Kobe’s defensive acumen. He was a 12-time All-Defensive pick who ranks 16th in career steals.

But when you think about Kobe’s game, you think offense first.

You think about the 81-point game and the 60 points he dropped in the last game of his career. You think of the game-winners and clutch shots. You remember when he set the NBA single-game record with 12 three-pointers in one game (since broken by Stephen Curry). You think of the footwork and the fadeaways, the graceful layups and vengeful dunks.

With all due respect to the likes of Jordan, LeBron, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Magic Johnson and Wilt Chamberlain, there’s a solid argument to be made that Kobe is the most skilled offensive player the sport has ever seen.

Later in his career and following his retirement, Kobe made it his mission to influence the game’s future generations. He mentored younger NBA players. He coached Gianna’s AAU team. As he wrote in what would be his last Twitter entry — a message of congratulations to LeBron for passing him on the NBA’s all-time scoring list — he wanted to “move the game forward.”

By creating a major award in Kobe’s name, the NBA would be giving players for years to come another goal to strive for, just like how players aspire to win MVP or Rookie of the Year.

This way, Kobe would posthumously continue inspiring players to be better.

If the league wants to memorialize Kobe Bryant, putting his name on an Offensive Player of the Year award would be a fitting and worthy tribute that keeps his legacy alive.

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