One minor subplot to the current NBA offseason is that, in a number of ways, it’s been implied that LeBron James is willing to take a bit of a step back for the sake of his Los Angeles Laker teammates. It was reported, for example, that James would defer to Kawhi Leonard and new teammate Anthony Davis if the former were to sign with the Lakers in free agency.
It was also of note that James was ready to defer to Davis when it came to wearing No. 23, with the two posing ceremoniously on Instagram earlier in the week as James appeared to hand off his number to the former Pelican acquired in a trade before the NBA Draft last month. But not all good gestures get rewarded, and sometimes they don’t even get to happen because of corporate interests. Nike had already made a mess of No. 23 LeBron Lakers jerseys, and those simply couldn’t go to waste.
And so James will stay in No. 23, and Anthony Davis will need a new number. On Friday night, it seems that Davis announced which number that will be in an Instagram post that showed him in a No. 3 jersey.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bz2E2b5A04_/
Davis’s caption seems to indicate he wore the number in elementary school, so it does have some significance to it. Jersey numbers are really symbolic at this point, and marking new periods in a career or perceived changes are meaningful to players. But in the end, it doesn’t really matter all that much.
Still, Davis officially gets a new start, one that will be announced in detail at an introductory press conference on Saturday. And LeBron’s Lakers jerseys won’t be throwbacks just yet. Everyone wins, I suppose.
