As part of the effort to lure free agent LaMarcus Aldridge, the Lakers engaged in a frankly embarrassing 12:01 a.m. Twitter recruiting campaign. It doesn’t seem to have worked. Almost a day later, at least four of those tweets have been deleted.

They read:

  • It’s 9:01pm PT and Mitch Kupchak is walking in to meet with @aldridge_12 #LAtoLA [cringeworthy picture of Adam Levine in a backwards Aldridge jersey]
  • Lakers fans everywhere screaming #LAtoLA pic.twitter.com/yQtFqQ4QXg
  • It’s 9:01pm PT and Mitch Kupchak is walking in to meet with @aldridge_12 #LAtoLA

From Lakers President Jeanie Buss’s account:

  • Please RT #LAtoLA [link to tweet from Lakers account]

And here’s the explanation for why they were deleted:

So the Lakers conceived of a dumb Twitter stunt, thought it might violate NBA rules, checked with the league and received clearance, and sent out the tweets. Upon seeing the tweets other unnamed teams complained to the NBA, the league backtracked and asked the Lakers to delete them, and the Lakers complied. Of course, it’s the internet so nothing is actually gone forever, and besides, the tweets’ effectiveness (or lack thereof) wore off hours ago.

The end result of this kerfuffle is that the Lakers look a bit silly, the NBA looks silly, and these unnamed complaining teams look very silly. Good job, good effort!

h/t Baxter Holmes

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E-mail or gchat the author: kevin.draper@deadspin.com | PGP key | Photo via Adam Levine