Los Angeles Lakers star Anthony Davis recently recalled the time when LeBron James offered him his No. 23 jersey number.
Los Angeles Lakers forward Anthony Davis will ultimately don No. 3 throughout the course of the 2019-20 NBA season. Although that is the case, Davis came very close to wearing a different jersey number for Los Angeles.
Indeed, Davis appeared to be on the verge of having No. 23 stitched onto his Lakers uniform this season. However, money-oriented matters prevented this from coming to fruition.
Of course, LeBron James occupied that jersey number slot before Davis was acquired by the team. However, once AD was obtained by the purple and gold, James wanted to do his part to make his new teammate comfortable in Los Angeles.
On that note, LeBron was more than willing to relinquish his iconic No. 23 to Davis. The former clearly felt it was important to make Davis feel at home despite the change of location.
AD likewise donned No. 23 on his jersey throughout his first seven NBA seasons. Thus, James’ generous gesture in the offseason carried a little extra weight for that reason alone.
Davis recently recollected the special moment he shared with The King. The Brow revealed that the offer came after the two finished having supper.
Dave McMenamin of ESPN detailed the story that Davis told about the night in question. Suffice to say, LeBron kept Davis on his toes at first regarding what was about to go down.
Bruno Manrique of ClutchPoints transcribed precisely what transpired on the special evening.
"“It was the end of the dinner,” said Davis, according to ESPN’s Dave McMenamin. “He pulled out a card. He was like, ‘My wife wanted me to give you this.’ I was like, ‘Why is Savannah giving me a card?’”"
Understandably so, it makes as to why the big man was puzzled right off the bat. Davis was with LeBron the whole evening, and the latter suddenly made mention of his spouse.
As the story unfolded, AD opened the card and started reading it. The former Pelican was welcomed to Los Angeles with open arms. Everything seemed normal at that juncture.
Despite that, Davis eventually stumbled on the word “bro” in the message. He did not know what to make of that given that James’ wife evidently never addressed him by that title.
The 6-foot-10 baller scoured through the note until he reached the bottom portion. The card was signed by James with “#6” inscribed after the name.
At that point in time, the three-time champion unveiled a Lakers jersey from a to-go bag the waiter dropped off. The combo power forward/center could not help but notice that No. 23 was sewed onto the attire.
Via Manrique’s transcription of the ESPN article, the following were James’ exact words to his new teammate.
"“He was like, ‘This is yours.’”"
Akin to how this whole process had been, Davis was not sure what to make of the situation. If anything, he seemed to think he was getting a James-themed piece due to the connection he drew with No. 23 being there.
Once the Akron, Ohio native flipped the jersey around, though, everything clicked in a heartbeat. AD observed that “Davis” was the name showcased on the jersey, not James.
The second-year Laker knew that Davis’ preference was to wear No. 23, so he acquiesced. Not a bad move on James’ end of the stick.
The big fella did not expect LeBron to do anything of that nature on the night in question. Nevertheless, AD greatly appreciated the fact that James was okay with giving up his trademark number. It demonstrated that James cared more about his teammate than himself.
Unfortunately for Davis, he will not get the chance to wear No. 23 this year. Per McMenamin, Nike would have taken a big blow if the jersey swap actually occurred. The company had already produced a lot of No. 23 gear in James’ name before the dinner took place.
At any rate, the gesture James made sheds light on the strong bond he and Anthony share with one another. The pair definitely seem to get along just fine off the hardwood.
Given that point, Lakers’ fans can only hope that the two will gel on the court once the season starts later this month. The Lakers’ season will largely bank on how well their two stars play together.