Los Angeles Lakers' LeBron James to change jersey number from No. 23 to No. 6 next season, source says

Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James will be changing from No. 23 to No. 6 on his uniform next season, but not to pass on his old number to Anthony Davis, as he intended a couple years ago.

James will don No. 6 for the 2021-22 season and Davis will stay with No. 3, the number he wore when L.A. won the championship in his inaugural season with the purple and gold, a team source confirmed to ESPN.

James first wore No. 6 in international competition for Team USA and later wore it for the four seasons he played for the Miami Heat because the organization had already retired No. 23 in honor of Michael Jordan.

He originally planned to switch back to No. 6 in the summer of summer of 2019 when the Lakers acquired Davis, because the big man wore No. 23 his entire career with the New Orleans Hornets, but Nike nixed the swap, sources told ESPN, because of potentially tens of millions of dollars worth of wasted inventory.

While James' choice of No. 23 was influenced by Jordan, he later said that No. 6 was inspired by NBA greats Bill Russell and Julius "Dr. J" Erving, who wore the number. James has continued to wear No. 6 since leaving the Heat in 2014 on his practice uniform while playing for the  Cleveland Cavaliers and in L.A. He said the dual number decision was an ode to Deion Sanders, who wore his collegiate No. 2 on his practice jersey but played in No. 21 for most of his NFL career. 

The Lakers star will be seen this summer in No. 6 before next season tips off. Promotional materials for James' upcoming movie, "Space Jam: A New Legacy," were released this week showing James' No. 6 "Tune Squad" uniform, as earlier reported by The Athletic.