The NBA’s logo immortalized Jerry West‘s legacy. Whenever people see his silhouette dribbling the basketball, they remember his greatness and impact on the sport. For those who have been wondering why West’s image was chosen to be the NBA’s official logo, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar has the answer.
In his heartfelt tribute to the 6’3″ guard in 2023, Abdul-Jabbar enlightened hoops fans about why no other player is more deserving to be “The Logo” than his fellow Los Angeles Lakers icon. According to Kareem’s explanation, it’s not only because West’s photo was picture-perfect.
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Instead, Abdul-Jabbar emphasized that it was because West possessed every trait of an ideal NBA poster boy both on and off the court.
“The reason Jerry West is the logo for the NBA is because he embodied the qualities we admire in our best athletes: skills as a player, dedication as a teammate, and integrity as a person. He was my coach, and my advisor, but mostly he was my friend,” Abdul-Jabbar wrote on X.
Jerry didn’t even want to be the NBA’s logo
The NBA logo was designed by Alan Siegel and was officially introduced in 1969. From that point on, West’s silhouette has become a representation of high-level basketball and an inspiration to future generations of athletes.
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While it’s undeniably an honor to be officially selected to symbolize NBA basketball, West himself wasn’t really proud of it. As it turned out, the legendary guard was aware of how the NBA ended up picking him to be the league’s logo and that back story made the entire thing feel wrong.
As per West, he couldn’t be happy about being the logo and couldn’t consider it part of his legacy because he felt a racial undertone came into play during its creation.
“They wanted to start to market the league, so they had to have a logo,” Jerry once recalled. “There were five guys, okay, five guys that they had picked out. The faces were all blanked out and there were five uh black men and one white guy, okay. No one knew that, and so it could have been somebody completely different. So anyway, they happened to pick me.”
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“I never knew it, and David Stern used to say, well, that’s you now, that’s Jerry West,” he continued. “I really didn’t want to know, to be honest with you, because I don’t think that’s right or fair. I really don’t. There were four other black men that were really great players.”
West was more than just the NBA’s logo
Regardless of what the one-time champ felt about being the NBA’s logo, most fans and legends believe he deserved it. Kareem was right. To be the official image of the NBA, one must be remarkable in every aspect of being a professional athlete and that’s exactly what West was.
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However, West’s legacy isn’t just about being the right player to represent the NBA. He also proved that his career deserved a high level of recognition. He competed hard and demonstrated what winning is all about in the NBA.
Even as an executive, “The Logo” also had a legendary career. He helped several NBA organizations build formidable squads with his impeccable abilities as a talent evaluator. More importantly, West served as a true role model.
This story was originally reported by Basketball Network on Aug 23, 2025, where it first appeared in the Off The Court section. Add Basketball Network as a Preferred Source by clicking here.