Report: LeBron James, Not Anthony Davis, to Wear No. 23 Jersey This Season

Published by

Robert Marvi

July 13, 2019 12:17 am

After seven individually great but frustrating seasons with the New Orleans Pelicans, Anthony Davis is now officially a member of the Los Angeles Lakers.

However, his arrival has hit a roadblock – sort of.

According to Yahoo! Sports, Davis’ plans to wear No. 23 – which his new teammate LeBron James wore with the Purple and Gold last season – will have to wait a year.

In an unselfish gesture of Lakers hospitality, James wanted to allow the six-time NBA All-Star to wear No. 23, which he has worn throughout his entire career with the Pelicans. James was planning to switch to No. 6, which he wore during his four seasons with the Miami Heat.

However, the NBA notified the team that they will not approve the change because the request came after the March 15 deadline.

Alternatively, the NBA said that Davis and James could make the switch if the Lakers were able to reach an agreement with Nike, who manufactures the team’s uniforms. But the corporate giant couldn’t make it happen due to financial reasons and production issues.

So for one more season, James will continue to wear his familiar No. 23.

As of now, there’s no word on which jersey number Davis will wear with the Lakers for the 2019-20 season.

Robert Marvi

Robert is a native of Santa Monica, Calif., and a graduate of the University of California, Santa Barbara. He has been an avid NBA fan since he was a little kid in the mid '90s and fell in love with the Nick Van Exel-led Lakers teams. He truly cherishes the Kobe Bryant-era of Lakers basketball and the five world championships that came with it, and is looking forward to the team's next NBA title.