The Lakers continue to struggle in free agency. It’s getting close to 24 hours since the free agency period began and Mitch Kupchak has yet to reach an agreement with any available free agent. The pool of free agents is shrinking, so the Lakers must act fast.
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While LaMarcus Aldridge has not made a decision, it’s obvious that he is not coming to Los Angeles. The Lakers had their opportunity to convince Aldridge in their two hour meeting, but reports surfaced that he was not impressed.
The Lakers Twitter account started the LA to LA hashtag before the meeting, along with having a photo of Adam Levine in an Aldridge jersey to help with the recruiting of the All-Star big man.
Not only did it not work, but it seems some NBA teams complained about it. According to Dave McMenamin of ESPN, the Lakers cleared it with the NBA, but took the tweets down after some teams complained.
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
Who complains about a hashtag? It seems like somebody has way too much time on their hands. Initially, some believed the Lakers erased the tweets because they knew Aldridge was not coming to Los Angeles, but McMenamin was able to clear things up.
The Lakers have not had a lot of success with social media campaigns. The “StayD12” hashtag ended up being an embarrassment. The LA to LA hashtag was clever, but the Lakers should have learned from their first mistake in 2o12.
Social media is a tool for the Lakers to use for their fans, not to recruit players. As we have seen with Howard and Aldridge, it can back fire and make this franchise look desperate.