It's official: LeBron James now wears No. 6 for the Los Angeles Lakers. The team shared the news on Twitter on Monday with a photo of his new jersey:
👑6⃣📲 pic.twitter.com/21PRM9jqVS
— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) June 14, 2021
The future Hall of Famer quote-tweeted the Lakers.
— LeBron James (@KingJames) June 14, 2021
Reports that James would be changing his number came out earlier in June. According to the Athletic's Shams Charania and Tim Cato, James had plans to change his jersey number to No. 6 from No. 23 ahead of next season.
James almost changed his number in 2019 after the Lakers acquired Anthony Davis from the New Orleans Pelicans, and was going to give No. 23 to Davis, the only number he's worn in his college and professional career. However, this change apparently isn't due to James passing on the number to Davis, who will reportedly stay at No. 3 next season. Rather, it's a move made in conjunction with the release of James' upcoming movie, "Space Jam: A New Legacy."
Charania and Cato report that James will change his number following the release of the movie. LeBron has been seen wearing No. 6 in clips of the new film.
The last time we saw James wear No. 6, he was a member of the Miami Heat where he won back-to-back titles in 2012 and 2013. When he left Miami in free agency to return back to the Cleveland Cavaliers following the 2013-2014 season, the four-time champion went back to No. 23 and kept it when he joined the Lakers in 2018.
