There is only one word to describe the free-agency dalliance between LaMarcus Aldridge and the Los Angeles Lakers: awkward.
At the start of free agency, the Lakers, along with the San Antonio Spurs, were identified as one of the front-runners to land the Portland Trail Blazers’ nine-year veteran. Shit, the Lakers even met with Aldridge first, before any other team—not including any previous dialogue he had with the Blazers.
Initial returns on the meeting were good.
Like, really good, per ESPN.com’s Ramona Shelburne:
The Lakers meeting with LaMarcus Aldridge went almost two hours. Source in the room said it went "really well"
— Ramona Shelburne (@ramonashelburne) July 1, 2015
But then shit started to hit the fan.
And quick.
First, Yahoo Sports’ Adrian Wojnarowski dropped this perception-shifting bomb:
Lakers didn't make strong impression in Aldridge meeting, sources say. Spurs can close on him. LMA expected to make decision fairly soon.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) July 1, 2015
A few hours later, the Los Angeles Times‘ Mike Bresnahan dropped some heat of his own (h/t Ball Don’t Lie):
LaMarcus Aldridge will not be joining the Lakers, The Times has learned. They were a 50-50 choice but he disliked bball part of presentation
— Mike Bresnahan (@Mike_Bresnahan) July 1, 2015
Aldridge was floored in a good way by Houston's analytics, on-court projections in their presentation. Not so with the Lakers.
— Mike Bresnahan (@Mike_Bresnahan) July 1, 2015
More LMA: He and Kobe didn't quite gel. It's a little vague, but Aldridge apparently didn't quite get answers from Kobe he was seeking.
— Mike Bresnahan (@Mike_Bresnahan) July 1, 2015
Kobe spoke for about three minutes in the presentation, said he envisioned LaMarcus Aldridge working with him the same way Pau Gasol did.
— Mike Bresnahan (@Mike_Bresnahan) July 1, 2015
Soon after, Kobe Bryant dropped some intel of his own:
Social Media reporting shouldn't diminish the quality of content #justsayin pic.twitter.com/bpAcJGJW9r
— Kobe Bryant (@kobebryant) July 1, 2015
Hmmmm…Interesting. Maybe the Lakers are still in the running.
Or not.
They had sent out some tweets in support of their courtship of Aldridge once free agency got underway, the most notable of which was the head photo up above. It featured a photoshopped picture of Aldridge in a Lakers jersey, implying that the Lakers themselves were either oozing confidence, super desperate, or both.
Whatever the case, they mysteriously deleted them, hours after all this other crap went down, per ESPN.com’s Baxter Holmes:
Seems the Lakers have deleted their tweets recruiting LaMarcus Aldridge to LA, such as the one w/ Adam Levine: https://t.co/4PGdOIQWwh
— Baxter Holmes (@BaxterHolmes) July 2, 2015
Fret not, though, sensitively proud Lakers fans. Your team wasn’t embarrassed. They were just doing the NBA a solid.
From ESPN.com’s Dave McMenamin:
Per league source, Lakers' #LAtoLA tweets weren't deleted out of sheepishness, but rather by NBA request after other teams complained
— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) July 2, 2015
Lakers, per same league source, cleared the #LAtoLA tweet plan with NBA legal dept beforehand. But still honored request to delete them.
— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) July 2, 2015
Well, there you have it. We’re not yet two days into free agency, and the Lakers have already struck out under Aldridge, doing so because their analytics department isn’t deep enough, and because Kobe still refuses to kiss the ring of players the Lakers are pitching.
On the bright side, Lakers fans, at least you know it has nothing to do with organization’s Twitter game. That remains strong. Or at least good enough.
