Boston's leprechaun comes in at No. 6 in Grantland's "Definitive NBA Logo Rankings"
We're still several away from the start of the regular season and there isn't a whole lot going on right now. Thankfully, Zach Lowe over at Grantland put out a ranking of every NBA team's logo for us all to mull over.
Lowe slotted Boston in the No. 6 spot.
The title of “most famous logo in sports history” comes down to the Celtics and Yankees, so it seems sacrilegious to place Boston’s leprechaun here at no. 6. But there has to be some penalty for the “Would this even fly today?” question. Touchy sorts could find it offensive, and design snobs characterize it as an amateurish cartoon with a busy color scheme of green, white, black, orange-brown, and gold.
“It may be loved by fans,” Fox says, “but it is derived from embarrassing clichés.”
“If you took out the history, people would question it,” says Koukodimos.
But you can’t take out the history — the championships, the logo’s placement at the center of the parquet, and Boston’s legacy as a hub for the Irish. The shade of green is iconic, and the winking leprechaun captures the impish obnoxiousness of a coach so confident that he lit up victory cigars before games were over. If you think this should be no. 1, I wouldn’t argue too strongly against you.
This spot does seem a tad low for Lucky. It's hard to argue that there are five other logos in the league that are better. Putting the Chicago Bulls at the top spot makes sense because that logo is and has always been nothing short of perfect. But Charlotte at No. 2 and Milwaukee at No. 4 both seem like a reach. Can't really argue about Miami's logo or the big Memphis grizzly because those are really sweet logos. Lowe has his reasons and admits the list is subjective so we're free to argue about it, not that an objective list would stop us.
Sure, the logo is very busy with all the colors and detail, but it works. Anyone who sees Lucky knows exactly who he is and what he represents. You can't buy that kind of recognition. Well, you could, but it would take a ton of money so why mess with a good thing? Besides a giant shamrock, which is far too simple for a logo, there really isn't any other symbol that truly represents the Celtics.
For those who didn't know, Red Auerbach's brother Zang created the logo back in the 1950s and it certainly stands the test of time. Also, our very own TB gave a nice breakdown of all of Boston's past logos back when the Celtics unveiled a new secondary logo last year. Here's to hoping Lucky sticks around for 60 more years.
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