Los Angeles Lakers rumors: LeBron James permits new teammate Anthony Davis to don No. 23

If recent Los Angeles Lakers rumors are true, Lakers’ franchise player is taking a huge step toward making his new teammate, Anthony Davis, feel welcome in his new home.

There have been plenty of Los Angeles Lakers rumors involving the roster. However, the most recent Lakers rumors involve a potential jersey number change.

Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James is doing his part to ensure his new teammate, Anthony Davis, is as happy as possible in Los Angeles.

According to Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports, James has opted to let Davis wear his No. 23 during the upcoming season. The generous gesture would subsequently allow AD to continue to don the number he wore during his seven seasons with the New Orleans Pelicans.

Per the same report by Haynes, Davis is “extremely grateful” for James’ willingness to kiss No. 23 goodbye.

As Chris Bengel of CBS Sports noted, James and No. 23 are virtually synonymous. LeBron sported the number throughout both of his stints with the Cleveland Cavaliers and, of course, his first year with the Lakers.

The lone discrepancy was when James was No. 6 during his four-year run with the Miami Heat. That same stretch was arguably the best span of James’ career given that he won two titles while in South Beach.

Marilyn Payne of For The Win recollected several reasons as to why James made that choice as a member of the Heat. One of those reasons is because The King likewise donned No. 6 for Team USA.

That being said, it is not implausible to think James’ sacrificial act could cause him to switch to No. 6 again. As Bengel indicated, too, James typically represented No. 6 in the Lakers’ practice sessions.

A recent report penned by NBA.com also implied James may indeed switch over to No. 6. The iconic player tweeted out the following on Thursday evening, which provides more than a helpful hint.

https://twitter.com/KingJames/status/1144426801667571712

Thus, granted nothing is truly official, Lakers’ supporters should not be shocked if No. 6 is James’ ultimate choice.

The same report revealed that teammate Kyle Kuzma is not against the idea of James changing things up. As a matter of fact, Kuzma wants the 3-time champion to rekindle another trend he used to be renowned for.

However, if James does not choose the No. 6, he needs to bear in mind that the Lakers have a lot of retired numbers. All in all, the storied franchise has 11 retired jerseys hanging from the Staples Center rafters.

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The correlation between LBJ and Davis is unique, to say the least. They both happen to possess the same agent, Rich Paul, who definitely played a role in getting Davis to come to Hollywood.

Davis was linked to the Lakers before the All-Star game this season. At that juncture, the big man essentially demanded that the Pelicans ship him out of town, preferably to the Lakers.

Of course, who can forget the so-called tampering violation LeBron committed when he selected The Brow to be on his team for All-Star weekend?

For these reasons and more, it is clear there is already a fairly strong bond James and Davis share. Without a doubt, this is an encouraging sign for a Lakers’ squad that has not sniffed the playoffs in six seasons.

Given the glaring lack of chemistry, the 2018-2019 roster had, the fact that James and Davis are on good terms is noteworthy.

The duo should make for an intimidating combination once the 2019-2020 commences. Nevertheless, the Lakers have a lot of work to do in terms of surrounding those two with help.