Hundreds of thousands of people have signed a petition calling on the NBA to update its logo to feature Kobe Bryant, who was killed in a helicopter crash near Los Angeles yesterday, January 26.
It comes after rapper Boosie Badazz took to Instagram to pay his respects to the late basketball star, who died in the crash along with his 13-year-old daughter Gianna and seven others.
‘Rest in peace, Kobe,’ he said. ‘This shit sad, dawg. This fucked up, man . . . It’s only right that the NBA take Jerry West off the logo and put Kobe Bryant on the logo, man. That’s only right, man. Fuck that, man. You gotta put Kobe Bryant on the NBA logo.’
Watch his tribute here:
Now, almost 200,000 people have signed a petition calling on the association the ‘immortalise’ the 41-year-old in the form of a new logo.
The Change.org petition reads:
With the untimely and unexpected passing of the great Kobe Bryant please sign this petition in an attempt to immortalise him forever as the new NBA Logo.
Kobe and Gianna were on their way to the Mamba Academy for basketball practice when the crash occurred. Eyewitnesses say they heard the helicopter sputtering before it crashed into a hillside in Casabalas and burst into flames.
Although police haven’t officially released the names of the other victims at the time of writing, their families and friends have been paying tribute to them on social media.
Fellow basketball player Michael Jordan led the tributes for Kobe among the sports world, describing Kobe as ‘one of the greats of the game and a creative force’.
He said:
He was a fierce competitor, one of the greats of the game and a creative force. Kobe was also an amazing dad who loved his family deeply – and took great pride in his daughter’s love for the game of basketball.
Former Lakers teammate Shaquille O’Neal described the loss as a ‘tragedy’, writing:
There’s no words to express the pain Im going through with this tragedy of loosing my neice Gigi & my brother @kobebryant I love u and u will be missed. My condolences goes out to the Bryant family and the families of the other passengers on board. IM SICK RIGHT NOW [sic]
Rest in peace to all those who tragically lost their lives.
If you have experienced a bereavement and would like to speak with someone in confidence contact Cruse Bereavement Care via their national helpline on 0808 808 1677.
Emma Rosemurgey is an NCTJ trained Journalist who started her career by producing The Royal Rosemurgey newspaper in 2004, which kept her family up to date with the goings on of her sleepy north east village. She graduated from the University of Central Lancashire in Preston and started her career in regional newspapers before joining Tyla (formerly Pretty 52) in 2017, and progressing onto UNILAD in 2019.