In this day and age, no athlete is just an athlete. No longer is just the team a brand, but the athletes themselves are their own brand and they know it.
This is even more the case when one pairs an unreal talent like Anthony Davis with a premier franchise such as the Los Angeles Lakers.
Very few teams get the amount of national coverage the Lakers receive and even average role players experience a massive increase in popularity. But for someone like Davis, the opportunity to expand his brand is now greater than it has ever been.
Davis understands this and while his focus first and foremost is on winning a championship, he also wants to take advantage of the opportunity to grow himself off the floor as well as he revealed to Jarrel Harris of Sports Illustrated:
I mean, obviously, I have a unique trait with the unibrow and you have to embrace yourself. You can’t worry about what everybody else is doing. Luckily, I have a great team around me to put me in great positions to be evolved in endorsements that represent me. I try not to do anything that doesn’t represent me, or I am not comfortable with. And I think that’s how you build your own brand and not try to follow up on somebody else and do something uncomfortable. So, all the more stuff I do, I allow myself to be out there to the public, the more global I can get. I try to stay in my own lane and do what I think is best for me, my brand and my family.
Davis also went into specifics and how important it would be for him to get his own signature sneaker:
As a kid you always want your own sneaker. You go on “NBA 2K” and create your own shoe and do all those things. So honestly it is a goal of mine, but I know it’s not given. It has to be earned and if Nike comes to me and wants to give me a signature shoe, I would be more than happy, and it will be a dream come true. I just have to keep working and hopefully that time comes.
Shoes may seem like a minor thing but for some, it is something they’ve dreamed about their entire life. Davis has long been putting in the work and it should only be a matter of time before he reaps those kinds of benefits off the court.
Davis is a special talent who has delivered for the Lakers in every way since joining the team.
A championship is the ultimate goal, but there are plenty of other things he could receive along the way — both on and off the floor.