AD recalls how LeBron surprised him with No. 23 jersey over dinner

LeBron James' decision to give up his No. 23 jersey for Anthony Davis came as a big surprise to his new Los Angeles Lakers teammate.

In an interview with ESPN's Dave McMenamin, Davis shared the story of how James gifted him the number while they were out to dinner at Jon & Vinny's Italian restaurant in L.A. this summer.

"It was the end of the dinner," Davis said. "He pulled out a card. He was like, 'My wife wanted me to give you this.' I was like, 'Why is Savannah giving me a card?'"

It didn't take long for Davis to realize the card wasn't from Savannah.

"'Welcome to L.A.' such and such and such, 'bro,'" Davis said, recalling the card's inscription. "I stopped reading. I said, 'Wait, Savannah doesn't even call me bro.'"

Davis looked at the bottom of the card, which was signed "King James #6." James proceeded to pull out a gold Lakers jersey with No. 23 in purple numerals from a to-go bag their waiter brought over and presented it to Davis.

"He was like, 'This is yours,'" Davis said.

Davis assumed the jersey was one of James', but when he turned it around, he saw his own name stitched on the back.

"He was like, 'I know you wanted 23,'" Davis said. "For him to, in an instant, just say, 'Here. Here's 23. You can have it.' ... It was a cool moment."

James will continue wearing No. 23 for at least one more season, as Nike reportedly declined his request to switch to No. 6 due to production issues.