EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — Even before he wore his Los Angeles Lakers uniform, Anthony Davis seemed comfortable.

LeBron James reiterated that the offense should run through Davis. Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka allowed James and Davis to exert some influence in the team's front-office decision making. Davis even spent part of his summer filming "Space Jam 2."

So far, the Lakers seemingly have everything Davis would want. And why not? After all, his representatives publicly requested the New Orleans Pelicans to trade Davis leading into last season’s trade deadline. So there is no way Davis would want to leave the Lakers after he becomes a free agent next summer, right?

“I just want to focus on this year,” Davis said at the Lakers’ media day on Friday. “Coming here, the Lakers definitely welcomed me with open arms and made me feel like this was home. But at the same time, it’s about what we can do this year. We have a special team, special unit, special coaching staff and we’re going to do whatever we can to focus on this year and try to come out victorious.”

Safe to say that the Lakers’ NBA championship fortunes would factor in Davis’ decision. After all, Davis became increasingly frustrated during his seven-year stint with the New Orleans Pelicans. Despite landing six NBA All-Star appearances and three spots on the All-NBA first-team, the Pelicans reached the playoffs in only two of those seasons. Never did they advance past the second round. Hence, Davis’ reps demanded a trade after making it clear to the Pelicans’ front office he had no plans to sign an extension this summer.

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Beyond winning, the Lakers are trying to make Davis comfortable in other ways.

The biggest component involves Davis’ role itself. James reiterated that Lakers coach Frank Vogel needs to make Davis the primary focus in his system after averaging a 23.7 points on 51.7 percent shooting and 12.0 rebounds per game during his seven seasons with the Pelicans. James praised Davis for having a “beautiful young mind” that should not go to waste.

“If we are not playing through Anthony Davis while he is on the floor, there’s no sense to have him on the floor,” James said. “He’s that great. It doesn’t mean every time down, we throw it to him, we throw it to him, we throw it to him. But we have the ability of doing it.”

James’ words starkly contrast what Kobe Bryant said about Dwight Howard prior to the 2012-13 season. Just like the 34-year-old James wants to reduce his workload and transition the 26-year-old Davis into the Lakers’ next star, the 34-year-old Bryant had similar plans for the 27-year-old Howard. Instead, Bryant proclaimed that the Lakers are “my team” at the Lakers' media day six years ago.

Throughout that season, Bryant and Howard had ongoing philosophical and personality differences. Howard scoffed at Bryant’s high-volume shooting and scoring. Bryant disliked that Howard’s engagement level on defense mostly predicated on his offensive role. Howard did not believe Bryant and others gave him enough credit for laboring through offseason back surgery. Bryant and others often felt Howard leaned on that factor as an excuse. Regardless, Howard left the Lakers as a free agent the following summer for Houston before seeing his NBA career plummet in Atlanta, Charlotte and Washington.

Upon reflecting on his dynamic with Bryant six years later, Howard maintained “none of that stuff matters" after joining the Lakers again on a non-guaranteed deal. Will James’ dynamic with Davis, however, matter for him when he decides his future? Davis smiled when relayed about James’ comments and said

“I’m a guy who lives right now. I live in the present,” James said. “If it’s happened in the past, there’s nothing you can do about that. And you have no idea what the future holds. If you start thinking about the future, then you will miss out on a great opportunity right in front of your face. And I think that’s even more selfish. So for me, having AD here right now and having the ballclub, we are not even going to address that during the season. AD will talk about it (eventually). Our goal is to get better every day. Coach Vogel and the coaching staff will put us in the best possible chance to win every night.”

Vogel likes his chances with James and Davis in the starting lineup.

“For what LeBron said, very kind of him. We’re going to feed off each other tremendously,” Davis said. “We’re two guys who are very selfless and just want to win. When we have two guys like that, it makes both of our jobs easier.”

To make the jobs easier for James and Davis, Pelinka often sought their input. It did not take long for Pelinka to have three-way telephone calls with James and Davis after the Lakers acquired him from New Orleans for Brandon Ingram, Lonzo Ball, Josh Hart, the No. 4 pick and a handful of other future picks shortly before the NBA draft. It did not take long for Pelinka to have group texts with Davis before and after free agency began on July 1.

The Lakers struck out on their main target in Kawhi Leonard, who joined the Los Angeles Clippers and indirectly brought Paul George with him from Oklahoma City. The Lakers, however, acquired various shooters to bolster their perimeter offense in Danny Green, Avery Bradley and Quinn Cook. The Lakers retained center JaVale McGee, as well as guards Rajon Rondo and Alex Caruso. When their initial prized center (DeMarcus Cousins) injured the ACL in his left knee, the Lakers signed Howard on a non-guaranteed deal after becoming encouraged with his improved attitude.

“There were guys that we had to try to convince that we really wanted here that ended up being here,” Davis said. “Now that we have, we feel like we have all the right pieces to do what we want to do and reach the ultimate goal. Now it’s about just going out, buckling down and doing it.”

For those wondering if Davis might struggle to fulfill that job description in a bigger market with more distractions, those concerns seem misguided. Just like all the other prize superstars the Lakers have acquired in past generations, Davis has explored off-court ventures. After filming his cameo this summer for “Space Jam 2,” Davis sounded like he enjoys that scene as much as he likes playing at the center position.

“What I’m interested in is the stuff we do on the floor,” Davis said. “Obviously it’s a bigger city, bigger media coverage, but I knew that when I got traded here, so I’m prepared for that. I think it can be a fun year.”

If it is a fun year, perhaps Davis will want to stay with the Lakers. For now, though, he remains intent on focusing on his promising present instead of his uncertain future.

Follow USA TODAY Sports' Mark Medina on Twitter @MarkG_Medina.