Los Angeles Lakers vice president of basketball operations and general manager Rob Pelinka cited Anthony Davis' leadership, work ethic, and high character in a statement formally announcing AD's 3-year, $186 million max contract extension.

“In our conversations with Anthony, his desire to lead our franchise for the next several years became abundantly clear. AD understands that his commitment to being the hardest worker, combined with high character, is what will help define our culture for many seasons to come. It is a proud day for Lakers Nation when we're able to extend the contract of one of the game's most dominant two-way players.”

Despite AD's injury history — he's never eclipsed 62 games in a season for the Lakers — the organization didn't hesitate to set him up as its cornerstone for the post-LeBron James era. The Lakers and Davis agreed to the deal on Friday, the first day the two sides became eligible to negotiate. The $62 million average annual value is the richest extension in NBA history (for now).

“They understand AD and what his work ethic has shown,” Klutch Sports CEO Rich Paul told Sportskeeda on Friday. “He has some injuries, but it wasn’t due to him not working. It’s not like he came into camp overweight or showed any laziness. There were just fluke things. That happens in the game.”

“(The Lakers) weren’t caught up in that. When you look at their style of play and what AD can bring to the table, it’s just something that was important to the team.”

Here are the yearly salaries for Davis (the $186 million figure accounts for projected annual 10% rises in the salary cap). The final year is a player option, per HoopsHype.

  • 2023-24: $40.6 million
  • 2024-25: $43.2 million
  • 2025-26: $57.6 million
  • 2026-27: $62.2 million
  • 2027-28: $66.8 million

In 56 games in 2022-23, Davis, 30, averaged 25.9 points, shot 56.3% from the field (career high), and 12.5 rebounds per game (career high). His invaluable defense guided the Lakers to the conference finals.

“Couldn’t think more highly of Anthony Davis as a Laker and as a player,” Pelinka said at Summer League. “He’s helped deliver a championship to our franchise. He’s been an incredible captain and leader. We saw last year, willing to play through a hard foot injury to get our team to the Western Conference Finals. So just love having him as a part of our team.”