Petition to make Bryant the new NBA logo nears 2 million signatures

(Reuters) – Nearly 2 million people have signed an online petition to use Kobe Bryant’s image as the new logo for the National Basketball Association following the death of the Los Angeles Lakers great on Sunday.

Bryant, one of the NBA’s all-time greatest players, and his 13-year-old daughter were among nine people who died on Sunday when the helicopter they were in crashed into a hillside outside the town of Calabasas, California.

Change.org said the petition, which has been signed by celebrities such as Snoop Dogg, Justin Bieber and Usher, is the fastest-growing on its website and the first petition of 2020 to top 1 million signatures anywhere in the globe.

“With the untimely and unexpected passing of the great Kobe Bryant please sign this petition in an attempt to immortalize him forever as the new NBA Logo,” reads the petition, which was created by 16-year-old Bryant fan Nick Moghtader of Vancouver.

The current NBA logo, which was introduced in 1969, features the silhouette of Lakers great and Basketball Hall of Famer Jerry West dribbling a ball with his left hand.

The NBA did not immediately respond when asked to comment on the petition, which had 1.9 million signatures as of 12:05 p.m. ET (1705 GMT) on Tuesday.

Bryant, who retired from professional basketball in 2016, played all 20 of his NBA seasons with the Lakers and won five NBA championships.

(Reporting by Frank Pingue in Toronto; Editing by Toby Davis)