"I wore 23…[LeBron James] drew me to want to go to Ohio State": Anthony Davis opens up about his bold decision to join Kentucky over the Buckeyes

In a recent episode of The Backyard Podcast, LA Lakers star Anthony Davis took a trip down memory lane and talked about his college days. He shed light on how he went from being an unknown entity to probably the best college player in the country. And amid this journey, he also had to take a huge call about which college to pick in the first place.

Why did Anthony Davis pick Kentucky?

On the show, Anthony Davis said that he was almost certain he would join Ohio State. He cited his fellow Lakers teammate LeBron James as the prime reason for his affection for Ohio.

"I wore 23…[LeBron James] drew me to want to go to Ohio State," he said.

LeBron never went to college, but he was always a huge supporter of the college team. Davis also said that the Ohio State team had already set up the number 23 jersey with AD's name.

However, an unofficial visit to Kentucky changed everything for Davis. He said that when he talked to the officials at Kentucky, they made him aware that he wouldn't exactly be the natural shoe-in starter for the team. This statement motivated him to pick them over Ohio as motivation, he said.

Anthony Davis- Kentucky

And boy, did that work out. At the time, he had to make the hard call of picking one university over the other after a long verbal agreement with Ohio. But once his decision was made, there was no turning back.

2012 NBA Draft

As fate would have it, Anthony Davis went on to play some of the most sensational basketball that the college level has ever seen. He established himself as the clear number one heading into the NBA and was naturally drafted first overall by the New Orleans Pelicans in 2012. Since then, he has become one of the premiere big men in today's NBA.