Anthony Davis has quickly found a new home with the LA Lakers, becoming a central part of their success. Davis has been a critical factor in the team’s continued push toward competing for an NBA title this season. However, there continues to remain questions concerning his long-term future. It’s something that he may have subtly laid out his free agency plans long ago.

Anthony Davis’ tenure with the Lakers

Since arriving to the Lakers last offseason, Anthony Davis has played a significant part in the team’s success.

Davis has put forth another impressive campaign that saw him lead LA with 26.1 points per contest while finishing second for the Defensive Player of the Year award. He was worked tremendously well alongside LeBron James from the get-go, which has been a crucial part of the Lakers’ strong campaign.

The Lakers’ two stars guided the franchise to their first No.1 playoff seed in the Western Conference in a decade. However, the attention remains on his long-term future, which he may have already addressed what he will do in free agency.

Anthony Davis may have indicated his free agency plans

Beyond the 2019-20 season, the biggest question surrounding Anthony Davis concerns his long-term future with the Lakers. The growing expectation is that he will opt out of the final year of his deal to become an unrestricted free agent to garner the most lucrative offer.

There hasn’t been any clear-cut indication of what Davis will do in the open market. However, the star forward may have already let the cat out of the bag with his approach to free agency after what he told Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports back in December 2018.

“I’d take legacy over money,” Davis told Yahoo Sports after posting game highs of 30 points and 20 rebounds to go with five assists in Friday’s loss. “I want to have a legacy. All my people that look up to me, the younger kids, I want them to know about AD’s legacy. Championships, the things I do in the community, being a good teammate, playing hard. All that stuff matters the most to me. Don’t get me wrong, money is amazing. But I think in that sense, money or legacy, I think my legacy will win that battle every time.”

These comments came before he was traded to LA, and rumors continued to spark around the situation. Davis made these remarks after playing the Lakers while with the New Orleans Pelicans and followed having dinner with LeBron James. However, there are still nuggets of information to take from his remarks.

Davis highly values winning above getting a lucrative deal, as was evident by him leaving money on the table after being traded to the Lakers. By his reasoning alone, staying in LA would be his preferred choice as he has quickly built a strong bond with James on the court while leading the franchise to much success. Much can still change, but Davis may have already indicated what he plans to do.

Lakers are eyeing a championship push

Before things can transition to free agency talk, Anthony Davis’ focus remains on guiding the Lakers to a championship.

LA is in a tough second-round series against the Houston Rockets, who convincingly won Game 1. The Lakers bounced back in Game 2 behind Anthony Davis’ 34-point outing and LeBron James’ near triple-double effort. It puts tremendous pressure on the Lakers’ two stars to give them a crucial 2-1 series lead.

Davis has been a mismatch defensively for the undersized Rockets despite PJ Tucker putting forth a solid job guarding him. He will need to continue to be a significant factor if the Lakers hope to reach the Western Conference Finals.