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It took lots of months, lots of rumors and, maybe, even a little collusion in order for Anthony Davis to, ultimately, land with the Los Angeles Lakers, but is the All-Star forward already planning his exit strategy? One wouldn’t think so, but Davis’ recent comments about his future might be a small sign that his time in LaLa Land and playing alongside LeBron James won’t be for as long as many think.
To recap, while talking to ESPN’s Rachel Nichols following his introductory press conference, Anthony Davis refused to commit to the Lakers beyond this season, telling Nichols that he didn’t want to address his contract situation — which expires next summer. Could that mean Davis already has a plan in his mind as to what’s next?
Then there’s this little tidbit, which saw Davis respond to a question about potentially joining the Chicago Bulls at some point in his career while he was back in his hometown running a youth hoops camp. Here’s what Davis had to say, per USA Today.
“I mean, (this is) definitely hometown,” he said, according to the Chicago Tribune when asked about possibly signing with the Bulls one day. “If the opportunity ever presents itself and when that time comes, I’d definitely consider it.”
“It’s a connection,” he said. “A lot of these kids are from the same neighborhoods that I’m from. And so to have someone come back that they can relate to, I think that’s a huge impact on them.”
So could the mix of being noncommittal to the Lakers and the tease to potentially return home and join the Bulls be a sign of what Anthony Davis is thinking about in the future? According to ESPN’s Jalen Rose, it most certainly is, because the former NBA player was on Get Up the the other day talking about how he believes Davis is just “planting seeds” to join the Bulls.
Per The Big Lead:
“Guys are planning years ahead,” Jalen said. “I’m gonna say this right now: don’t be surprised if Anthony Davis ends up with the Bulls. We see Kawhi Leonard and Paul George go back to California, we see LeBron James go back to Cleveland. He’s already planting the seeds.”
To see the full segment from Rose on Get Up, take a look below.
Of course, nobody knows how this experiment between Anthony Davis and LeBron James will go, so, hey, maybe Jalen Rose might be onto something? While it’s insane to think the Lakers won’t be good next season, or that either star will be unhappy, it’s odd to hear Davis say in a public forum that he would embrace the opportunity to play in his hometown one day. Who knows if that’d be starting next year or not, but he did at least hint at it.
After all the trouble it took to get Anthony Davis to the Lakers, it’d be hard to see him bolting after just one year. Then again, the NBA is a crazy world, man, with a lot of behind-the-scenes stuff that nobody even knows about, so maybe the big man’s already plotting a new superteam with the Bulls next year? For now, he’ll enjoy the time with the Lakers and we’ll just have to see if Rose’s thought of him “planting seeds” ever grows into a full on tree or not.