What is the league’s number-changing policy?
Joe Vardon, NBA senior writer: The NBA requires players to notify the league more than a year in advance of an intended jersey change. That’s why, even though LeBron used his 23 as a house-warming gift to Davis when Davis was traded to the Lakers in the summer of 2019, the jersey number swap ultimately didn’t take place. The two wouldn’t have been able to do it until the following season.
As for what’s going on now with LeBron, most of Space Jam has been completed for nearly two years. So he’s known he wore No. 6 in the film, and had already intended to gift 23 to Davis, although Davis is going to stay put with No. 3.
Why the change now?
Tim Cato, Mavericks beat writer: James wanted to change his number two summers ago when Davis initially joined the team, even posting an Instagram photo posing with Davis and a No. 23 Davis jersey.
However, it would have been too costly for Nike to switch at the time since they were already producing apparel for the following season that still had James with No. 23. The change was delayed another season due to complications due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
A league source also says the switch was purposefully timed with the release of “Space Jam: A New Legacy,” where James is wearing No. 6.
Why is 6 significant to LeBron?
Bill Oram, Lakers beat writer: When LeBron first switched to 6 in Miami in 2010, it was not only out of deference to Michael Jordan, whose 23 was retired by the Heat earlier in the decade but also in honor of Julius Erving, a nod to his kids’ birthdays. He also wore 6 in three Olympics.
Whether he was wearing 23 or 6 in games, dating back to his Heat days, James always wore the other in practice, mimicking a move by another of James’ heroes, Deion Sanders.
James tried to switch back to 6 for his second season with the Lakers as part of an effort to gift 23 to Davis, but the attempt was well after the league March 15 deadline for a request to change numbers and the financial hit to Nike for a last-minute change was believed to have been in the tens of millions.
That this shift happens to align with the rollout of a new film is also not a coincidence from the business-savvy James.
Why is AD sticking with No. 3?
Oram: The best guess here is that he’s established an identity in the number. He won a championship. Davis has achieved more in two seasons as No. 3 than in seven seasons as No. 23 in New Orleans.
Assuming good health and more years of sustained dominance, Davis is on track to have his number retired one day by the Lakers and it’s just cleaner if the number he wore in his (first?) championship with the Lakers is the one that goes to the rafters.
It’s not like No. 3 was a random choice. When he was denied the opportunity to move to 23, Davis embraced the single digit that had been his number way back in elementary school.
(Illustration by The Athletic / Getty Images)