LaMarcus Aldridge, sources told ESPN, was not impressed with the Los Angeles Lakers' free-agent pitch late Tuesday night.
Specifically, one source told ESPN's Chris Broussard, Aldridge thought the presentation was too off-court focused, with the basketball portion underwhelming. According to the Los Angeles Times, the negative feelings about the basketball side had to do with the Lakers' lack of focus on analytics (a subject ESPN.com's Baxter Holmes tackled in February).
Kobe Bryant? A team official told the Times that the trouble wasn't his fault at all. According to ESPN's report, Bryant told Aldridge their dynamic in Los Angeles would be similar to Bryant's and Pau Gasol's during their two championship runs.
Still, speculation lingers that Aldridge has crossed the Lakers off of his list. After the reports surfaced, Kobe tweeted this:
We can't say for sure who he was referring to. (We're also not sure why he got the crop wrong on that meme.)