The NBA logo's silhouette is Hall of Fame Los Angeles Laker Jerry West

The NBA is constantly growing in popularity and their famous logo is actually based on a real player from a real photo. In 1969, then NBA commissioner J. Walter Kennedy asked Alan Siegel, a brand identity consultant who worked on the logo for Major League Baseball (MLB) a year prior, to create a new logo for the NBA. Kennedy insisted the logo should feature the silhouette of an NBA player, making it similar to the new logo for Major League Baseball. Siegel searched for inspiration and came up with different ideas, eventually finding a photo of Jerry West dribbling that was taken by Wen Roberts. West's silhouette from that photo became the logo for the NBA that is still used today and Jerry West is now commonly referred to as "The Logo".