Stephen A. Smith Says Mountaineer Legend Jerry West Should Not Be The NBA Logo

There are many, many words you could use to describe ESPN personality Stephen A. Smith. A few of them would not be:

• Reserved
• Humble
• Level-headed

You get the idea. And to fill a two hour debate show five days a week, Smith tries (or maybe it just comes natural) daily to say the most ridiculous things possible to get himself in the news.

Yesterday, Smith's gasbagging was directed at WVU legend Jerry West. West has been in the news recently for his opinion on LeBron James and the media's coverage of his struggles in the NBA Finals:

That's the most ridiculous thing. If I were him, I'd probably want to strangle them. He's carried teams on his shoulders. He's been to the finals six straight times. How many times has he been the favorite? None. Zero. Grossly unfair to him.

For the record, LeBron's 2011 Heat team was favored against the Dallas Mavericks. James is currently 2-4 in the NBA Finals and is a miracle away from being 2-5. West's Lakers also had their struggles in the Finals. Unfortunately for West, his prime coincided with the greatest dynasty in sports history, the 1960's Boston Celtics.

Mentioning that fact wouldn't fit Smith's narrative, though, so he decides to go on a rant about how West's Finals record means he doesn't deserve to be the logo of the NBA:

He doesn't deserve to be the NBA silhouette. The NBA needs to get with modern times, and understand first of all that most basketball fans don't know who the hell Jerry West was as a player. And even if you did know, regardless of your greatness, and you were great, eight finals losses in nine tries is below mediocre.

The NBA should replace Jerry West w/Michael Jordan as the logo. https://t.co/IjvrDOeaJI

— Stephen A Smith (@stephenasmith) June 7, 2016

Smith goes on to say that Michael Jordan should replace West as the logo. Which is fine, except the logo isn't reserved to simply the best player ever. West is the logo (a) because he is one of the all-time greats and (b) more importantly, it just makes for a really cool picture.

Maybe the younger generation doesn't know who West is, (though if you have children in WV and haven't taught them of his greatness, I question your parenting skills) but does that really matter? It's just a logo. Most fans probably assume it's just a drawing and not a silhouette of a former player.

But again, this is Stephen A. Smith we're dealing with, who never lets a little reason get in the way of a sizzling take.