LeBron James gratuitously offered his new teammate Anthony Davis the no. 23 jersey in his debut season with the Los Angeles Lakers. According to insider conferring with ESPN, the holdup on the jersey swap comes down to a deadline set by Nike Inc.
NBA officials have confirmed: the Lakers would have had to notify the merchandiser of the request by March 15th; seeing as they didn't - LBJ will have to wait until the next production deadline to re-adorn himself with the no. 6 made famous during his Championship run with the Miami Heat, 2011-2014.
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As per Yahoo Sports, the LeBron jersey for 2019-2020, has been up for pre-sale for a couple of weeks now, and Nike would prefer to maintain the status quo - rather than seek a re-confirmation notice with every patron listed in the buyer's list. Not to mention, Nike has already poured out millions of dollars on LBJ inventory going into next season, so having the obsolete no. 23 wind up on a clearance rack, is the farthest thing on their minds.
As a result of the embargo, Anthony Davis will accept the no. 3 from the Los Angeles Lakers, the number he wore all throughout elementary school. LeBron will retain the no. 23, even though as of Friday he did submit a formal request to switch back to no. 6. Who's to say LeBron won't push his weight around to great effect. If he's serious about following through with the request, despite the embargo, Nike will have to ask themselves: is it worth upsetting the King, should they swallow their losses/pride in the process? Hit us with your thoughts down below.
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