Who is the NBA Logo Modeled After?

The NBA logo is one of the most recognizable sports logos in the world. But who is the model for the logo? Read on to find out!

Jerry West

The NBA logo is one of the most recognizable logos in the world. It is a silhouette of Jerry West, one of the greatest basketball players of all time.

Jerry West’s playing career

Jerry West was born on May 28, 1938, in Chelyan, West Virginia. He played collegiately at West Virginia University, leading the Mountaineers to the NCAA championship game in 1959. That year he was named a consensus All-American. West was selected by the Lakers in the first round of the 1960 NBA draft with the No. 2 overall pick.

As a rookie, he averaged 17.6 points and nearly five rebounds per game and was named NBA Rookie of the Year. The following season, he averaged a career-high 30.8 points per game and was selected as an All-Star for the first time. He would go on to be named an All-Star 12 times in his 14-year playing career.

In 1962–63, West helped lead the Lakers to their first playoff appearance since moving to Los Angeles four seasons earlier. The team made it to the Western Conference finals that year before losing to the eventual champion San Francisco Warriors. The Lakers finally broke through with a championship in 1971–72, defeating the New York Knicks in five games behind a balanced attack that featured five players averaging in double figures, including West (19 points per game).

Jerry West’s coaching career

After being drafted, West played all four of his college seasons with the Mountaineers, leading them to the 1959 NCAA finals appearance. In his senior year, during which he averaged 24.8 points and 13.3 rebounds per game and was named both All-American and academic All-American, he led West Virginia to a share of the 1960 Big East Conference co-championship.

West’s professional career began with the Los Angeles Lakers, who selected him second overall in the 1960 NBA draft behind Oscar Robertson. He spent his entire 14-year playing career with Los Angeles, winning six NBA Finals most valuable player (MVP) awards (1972, 1973, 1974, 1976–1978). The Lakers won an NBA record 33 straight games (spanning two seasons) in 1971–72 and an additional 16-game winning streak during the 1972–73 season; they also won 19 consecutive playoff games from May 1972 through May 1974.

West holds many all-time NBA records that have yet to be broken; among them are: Most field goals made in a season without missing a shot (294); highest free throw percentage in a season (.900); most points scored in overtime periods in a career (932); and most field goals made in overtime periods in a career (395).

The NBA logo

The NBA logo was designed by Alan Siegel in 1971. The logo is composed of a red, white, and blue silhouette of a player dribbling a basketball. The player is said to be based on Jerry West, who was a popular player at the time.

The NBA logo’s design

The current NBA logo was designed by Alan Siegel in 1971. The center of the logo features a basketball player jumping toward a basket. The player is Jerry West, who was the Los Angeles Lakers’ shooting guard at the time. Some have speculated that the reason West was chosen is because he was the NBA Finals Most Valuable Player in 1969 and 1970, leading the Lakers to championships both years.

The NBA logo’s evolution

The first logo was designed by Alan Siegel in 1969. It featured the silhouette of Jerry West, a then-Los Angeles Lakers player. The image was designed to be versatile and to look good on both television and print advertising.

The current logo, which was designed by Walter Tatz in 1971, is an update of the original design. It features a red, white, and blue basketball with the words “National Basketball Association” around it. The basketball is meant to represent the game itself, while the words are meant to represent the league’s values.

The man behind the NBA logo

Jerry West, nicknamed “Mr. Clutch” or “Zeke from Cabin Creek”, is an American retired basketball player who played his entire professional career for the Los Angeles Lakers. His silhouette is featured on the NBA Logo. He has been described as one of the greatest basketball players of all time.

Alan Siegel

Alan Siegel is the man behind the NBA logo. He is a graphic designer who was hired by the NBA in 1971 to redesign their logo. His design was inspired by the geometric shapes of the basketball court, and he used a simple Serif typeface to create a strong and impactful logo.

Alan Siegel’s career

Siegel was born in 1932 in Brooklyn, New York, and he grew up a Knicks fan. He attended the High School of Music & Art (now LaGuardia High School) and then Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art. He later received his master’s degree from Yale University. Seigel began his career as a graphic designer, but he soon switched to advertising. In 1968, he founded Siegel+Gale, an advertising and branding agency.

In 1971, Seigel was approached by the NBA to create a new logo. The league was in the process of rebranding itself, and it wanted a fresh start. Seigel eventually settled on a simple yet unique design: a silhouetted player dribbling a basketball. The player is based on Jerry West, who was then-head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers. Seigel’s design has been used by the NBA ever since, and it remains one of the most recognizable logos in all of sports.

In addition to his work with the NBA, Seigel has also designed logos for Major League Baseball, NBC, Xerox, IBM, AT&T, ABC, and many other major brands. He has won numerous awards for his work, including the Lifetime Achievement Award from Cooper Union and the Gold Medal from The American Institute of Graphic Arts. Alan Siegel is widely considered to be one of the most successful branding experts of all time.

Alan Siegel’s other work

In addition to the NBA logo, Siegel has had a hand in designing some of the world’s most iconic corporate logos, including those for NBC, ABC and U.S. Steel. He also created the FedEx logo in 1971, which has been described as “an abstract version of aWinged biblical creature known as a griffin.”