Los Angeles Lakers power forward Anthony Davis called his hometown of Chicago the "Mecca of basketball" on Friday.

Tony Gill of 670 The Score provided Davis' complete comments on the city's love of the sport:

Davis made the remarks while hosting the Nike Rise Camp at Kenwood High School in Chicago. The event, which is in its third year, features "basketball skills training with top coaches, elite competition and Other Side of the Game workshops," which help young players with brand development.

Although fans in New York City, Los Angeles, Boston and Philadelphia would probably be willing to debate the six-time NBA All-Star about his stance, not to mention fanbases of the top college basketball programs, Chicago is definitely in the conversation.

The unmatched success of Michael Jordan, who led the Bulls to six championships during the 1990s, is obviously the driving force in the city's interest in recent decades.

Along with Davis, Chicago has produced several other NBA stars from the current generation, led by Dwyane Wade and Derrick Rose.

The Lakers star probably isn't the city's favorite son during football season, though.

"I know a lot of Bears fans, and the Chicago guys are going to get mad at me, but this is when the Bears were struggling a little bit, going through a quarterback change," Davis said in 2016. "I moved up to the green and yellow land up there. I'm not going to lie, I love the Packers."

That said, his basketball comments do have some statistical backing. The Bulls ranked second in average attendance during the 2018-19 NBA season behind only the 76ers despite finishing with a 22-60 record, the third-worst mark in the league, per ESPN.

It takes a diehard fanbase to remain loyal through that type of lackluster campaign.