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Lakers star Anthony Davis agrees to highest annual salary in league history: Report

Los Angeles Lakers forward Anthony Davis gestures during the first half of the team's NBA basketball game against the Dallas Mavericks in Dallas, on April 22, 2021. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

Los Angeles Lakers star Anthony Davis has agreed to a contract extension with the team that will make him the highest-paid player per season, according to ESPN.

Davis, 30, agreed to a three-year, $186 million extension that will keep him in L.A. through 2028, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported.


His annual salary — around $62 million — will be the highest in NBA history.

Davis had two years and $84 million on his contract prior to the extension. He became eligible to be extended on Friday, Wojnarowski said.

The former Kentucky Wildcat was drafted No. 1 overall in the 2012 NBA Draft. He spent seven seasons with the New Orleans Pelicans franchise before being traded to Los Angeles in one of the largest blockbuster deals in NBA history.

The trade united Davis with LeBron James, pairing one of the sport’s all-time greatest players with one of the league’s most versatile big men.

In four seasons with the Lakers, Davis has averaged 24.6 points, 10.1 rebounds and 3 assists per game, as well as 2 blocks and 1.3 steals per game.

Playing primarily center last season, he averaged a career high 12.5 rebounds in his 56 games played.

He’s been named to the NBA’s All-Star team every season as a member of the Lakers and helped lead the team, along with James, to the 2020 NBA title in the pandemic-shortened season that concluded at Walt Disney World.

Davis is widely regarded as one of the greatest power forwards in NBA history, and has a 98.6% Hall of Fame probability, according to Basketball-Reference.com.

The Lakers will begin next season with Davis and James back at the helm, as they look to build on their unexpected run to the NBA Western Conference Finals.