Before Anthony Davis even played an NBA game, the then-19-year-old was named to the 2012 Team USA men’s Olympic basketball roster.
He was so caught up in being part of a group of NBA stars including Kobe Bryant, LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony that he forgot something important in a preliminary round game against Nigeria.
“We were winning by like 60 or something like that, and I finally got my chance to go in the game,” Davis said after the Lakers game Friday. “I was just so happy to be around all these guys, all these future Hall of Famers, that I forgot to put my jersey on before the game.”
It was the third game of the Olympics, of which Davis played the least of anyone on Team USA.
“So when Coach K called me to get in the game, I’m going up to the table and I’m about to take my warmup shirt off, and I look down, and it’s just a white T-shirt underneath. So I kinda creep back to the bench and Coach K act like ‘What are you doin’?’” Davis recalled.
“And I kinda whispered to him, cause I didn’t want these guys to hear me, and, I was like, ‘I forgot my jersey,’ and I go sit down.”
He sits. Bryant notices his quick foray to and from the scorer’s table.
Anthony Davis tells the story of forgetting his jersey at the Olympics with Kobe. pic.twitter.com/fyGoBK99Ks
— ESPN (@espn) February 1, 2020
“Kobe got on me, like, I can’t say what he said, but basically like ‘Why you not goin’ in the game, this your chance?'” Davis said. “And I was like ‘I don’t got my jersey on’ and there’s a picture where he’s kinda looking into my warmup.”
The photo was embedded in the video ESPN tweeted. Kobe is pulling Davis’ jacket slightly as Davis looks amused.
The budding star managed to get ahold of his jersey and eventually get in the game. He had nine points and six rebounds in 15 minutes, according to Basketball Reference.
But those 15 minutes didn’t wipe away the memory of forgetting it or Kobe’s reaction.
Almost a decade later, it comes to mind about 82 times a year.
“So now, before every game, I kinda just check to make sure I got my jersey on. To this day,” Davis said. “He told me how to get dressed for a game, basically.”
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