Should LeBron James be the new logo of the NBA?

Connection to the history of the brand

Beyond the fact that Jerry West’s career spanned the 1960s and part of the 1970s when the NBA was coming of age, he was also a part of the greatest rivalry the league has ever known. The Celtics versus the Lakers was a must-see TV event, even at a time when Major League Baseball and the NFL were both significantly more popular than professional basketball.

As much as Russell versus Chamberlain helped catapult the league’s popularity to new heights, Boston and Los Angeles’ NBA Finals showdowns gave the league much-needed relevance. Jerry West played as big a part in this rivalry as anyone else. In 1969, after a grueling seven-game series against the Celtics, West was named the MVP of the series in spite of the fact that his team lost the series. He remains the only player to win the Finals MVP in a losing effort.

West also deserves a nod for his underrated playing style. Modern fans may view him as a one-dimensional player who simply knocked down open jump shots, but nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, before he was given the well-known moniker of “Mr. Clutch,” fans began referring to him as “Mr. Inside and Mr. Outside” because of the versatile ways in which he could score.

He could not only score in a variety of ways but he was also named to five All-Defensive teams during his career. These little-known facts prove that West was not only a pioneer of the game, but that he paved the way for the coveted modern two-way player with his elite ability on both ends of the floor.