Bikini Basketball Team Rips Off Sonics Logo

A bikini basketball team has ripped off the old-fashioned logo of the Seattle Supersonics, bringing back a piece of NBA history, but potentially violating copyright policies in the process.

There are just seven teams in the brand new bikini-clad league, which is set to start up in a little over a month, reports Gather. The teams include the Atlanta Fleet Angels, New York Knockouts, Hollywood Hotties, Orlando Lady Cats, L.A. Ice, Chicago Desire, and Miami Spice.

The Miami Heat is the guilty party when it comes to copying old logos, blatantly taken from the green, yellow, and white Sonics symbol from the years before they became the Oklahoma City Thunder. The only difference between the logos? The Spice are using similar colors to NBA team the Miami Heat with red white and black taking the Sonics’ colors.

Other familiar logos in the Bikini Basketball League include the New York Knockouts, who have a similar logo to the official NBA and WNBA logos, though not as similar as the Spice. While it’s possible that the design teams were simply lacking in creativity, it’s also possible that they are trying to spoof the other leagues.

CBS Sports notes that the newly founded Bikini Basketball League is a league “for Sexy Athletic Ladies from around the world.” CBS writer Royce Young wrote:

“I’m not an intellectual property lawyer, so I don’t really know if that crosses the line of copyright laws or if it’s a fair-use thing. (Parody, maybe?) But this has to be rock-bottom for the Sonics. That famous, iconic logo on a bikini basketball team? The bright side is there’s a good chance that logo might not be in use for too long.”

Do you think the bikini basketball team Miami Spice are intentionally stealing the Seattle Supersonics logo? If so, is it a copyright issue, or simply a poor attempt at copying an old NBA team?