The Lakers Got Fooled By Fake Account Following The NBA Draft
06/27/2024 01:45 PM
The Los Angeles Lakers selected one of the top players in college basketball last season in Wednesday's first round of the NBA Draft, but their social media team may need to double check the accounts they repost.
After the Lakers drafted Dalton Knecht, they retweeted what appeared to be a message from the former Tennessee star.
Upon further review, the account they retweeted was someone pretending to be Knecht.
The account describes itself as a "muse account for the 6'6" SF for the Los Angeles Lakers."
"WOW, this is surreal man." the fake account tweeted.
"Thank you so much Laker nation for welcoming me with open arms. My favorite hooper ever was Kobe Bean Bryant and it's an honor to wear the same jersey as him."
Despite the gaffe by the social team, everyone in the Lakers organization seems to be thrilled with the pick.
"In my mind, there is no way a player like this will be available for us to pick on draft night," said general manager Rob Pelinka.
"Across the board, just couldn't be happier."
Pelinka said that if the Lakers had the No. 10 pick instead of No. 17, they still would have taken Knecht.
He's already been acknowledged by his new head coach JJ Redick and Lakers star LeBron James, who discussed Knecht's impact during Tennessee's NCAA Tournament run on their "Mind the Game" podcast.
"It's going to be fun just to be sharing that court with both of them, [AD] and Bron," Knecht said after being drafted by the Lakers.
"Bron's one of the greatest. So, it's going to be real special."
Knecht had a long road to the NBA, but he says that not receiving any Division I offers out of high school put a chip on his shoulder that he still plays with today.
"Every time I touch a basketball or walk into a gym, I always feel like I got something to prove; and it doesn't matter where I'm at, it's always going to be there," Knecht said.
"It's going to be something that I'll carry with me for the rest of my career."
Related: ESPN Makes Embarrassing Mistakes During NBA Draft Introductions
