Los Angeles Lakers general manager and vice president of basketball operations Rob Pelinka shed light on how contract extension negotiations between the organization and Anthony Davis went down last week.

On Aug. 4 — the first day the two sides were eligible to begin talking — the Lakers offered Davis the richest max extension in NBA history ($62 million average annual value). The Lakers formalized the 3-year, $186 million deal two days later.

“Jeanie [Buss] and Darvin [Ham] and I were just probably the most excited to just get Anthony's perspective on what it means to do an extension like this and what it means to become a leader of the Lakers for years to come,” Pelinka told Spectrum Sportsnet. “And for us, in our conversations with him, it was really centered around his character; who he is as a person, how he treats his teammates, his commitment to want to be the hardest worker and help establish our culture with that.

“Clearly, he's one of the game's most dominant two-way players. But to see his desire to take on those leadership reins was significant for us, to have those conversations with him.”

Despite Davis' injury history — he hasn't eclipsed 62 games in a season since 2017-18 — the Lakers had no qualms about making him their cornerstone of the post-LeBron James era.

“They understand AD and what his work ethic has shown,” said Klutch Sports CEO Rich Paul. He has some injuries, but it wasn’t due to him not working. … [The Lakers] weren’t caught up in that.”

In 56 games in 2022-23, AD averaged 25.9 points, shot a career-best 56.3% from the field, and grabbed a career-best 12.5 rebounds. His dominant and versatile defense led the Lakers into the Western Conference Finals.

“In our conversations with Anthony, his desire to lead our franchise for the next several years became abundantly clear,” Pelinka wrote in a statement announcing the deal.

Davis, 30, is now signed through 2027-28 (player option) for a total of $270 million. Pelinka reiterated the franchise's offseason intention of prioritizing “the continuity of this team” while “improving around the edges.”

“Clearly, extending Anthony Davis is the core of that continuity. He's a pillar of the franchise. Just an exciting day for us to know we can build around him for years to come.”