It took much longer than anyone expected for the Lakers to land Anthony Davis. The team worked to trade for the All-Star forward ahead of the NBA’s trade deadline back in February, but weren’t able to make a deal until after the NBA Draft Lottery, which wasn’t completed until after the free agency moratorium period.
However, after the Lakers finally made the deal, LeBron James made a huge gesture to his new teammate offering his No. 23 for the upcoming season. Unfortunately for both players, they won’t be able to make the switch until the 2020-21 NBA season, according to Yahoo Sports.
But due to production issues and the massive financial hit Nike would have absorbed from the No. 23 James inventory that’s already been produced, Nike could not accommodate the request for this season, sources said.
Out of consideration for fans who already purchased James’ jersey and to avoid distractions for a team competing for a championship, the Lakers star will bypass seeking the number change for this season.
The deadline to change numbers was in March, and for Nike to make the request for the two Lakers stars, they’d lose a tremendous amount of revenue for the jerseys they’ve already made. When they do make the switch, James is expected to go back to No. 6, which he wore during his years in Miami.
