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Anthony Davis was surprised to learn LeBron James was willing to give up his signature No. 23 as the first test of their new partnership within the Los Angeles Lakers. The Brow recalled just how it all went down during a late night dinner, outside of Jon & Vinny's Italian restaurant in Brentwood, California:
“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?'”
Davis opened the envelope and began to read it:
“‘Welcome to L.A.' such and such and such, ‘bro,'” said Davis, remembering the note. “I stopped reading. I said, ‘Wait, Savannah doesn't even call me ‘bro.'”
He looked to the bottom of the card for the signature: “King James #6.”
Article Continues Below“Then he pulls the jersey out.”
Inside a to-go bag the waiter brought over, James pulled out a gold Lakers jersey with No. 23 stitched in purple numbers.
“He was like, ‘This is yours.'”
Davis thought he'd just been gifted one of James' own jerseys, but once he turned the jersey around he saw his own last name “Davis” stitched across the shoulders.
“He was like, ‘I know you wanted 23.' For him to, in an instant, just say, ‘Here. Here's 23. You can have it.' … It was a cool moment.”
However Davis will wear No. 3 this season after the league office declared the paperwork to change a jersey number would not go into effect until the 2020-21 season, as they had missed the deadline to do so — rendering the gift as a thought that counts in the eyes of Davis.
