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Los Angeles Lakers Take Down 9/11 Tweet After Criticism


Los Angeles Lakers

Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports

The Los Angeles Lakers, just like many organizations across this great land, paid respect to those that were lost on September 11th, 2001 on the 12th anniversary of the incident. However, the Lakers did it in a way that offended some people. Here’s the tweet from the team’s official account that was sent out on 9/11/13, which has subsequently been taken down:

Los Angeles Lakers

Image via @Lakers, @USATODAYsports

Unfortunately, some people thought the tweet was intended to commemorate Kobe Bryant’s afro, which he wore during the 2001-02 season. This was not the intent of the Lakers. The organization was merely showing a picture of Bryant from that year, which featured a ribbon that was worn on the team’s jerseys to remember the victims of 9/11. So with all the negative feedback the team was getting, they ultimately decided to take down the post and apologize.

‘Out of respect for the intensely personal nature of how people remember this day, and that we recognize that not everyone understood the intent of our message, we pulled down our tweet and photo.  Ultimately, our intent was to honor the spirit of remembering a day that we should all never forget.’

Admittedly, when I first viewed the tweet, I too thought it was a poorly timed joked by the Lakers. But after I thought about it for a second, I realized the team’s true intent. In hindsight, the team could have definitely chosen a better photo to show support for the victims of 9/11, but it’s also clear that the tweet had nothing to do with Kobe’s afro. But given the reaction it got, they made the right call to pull it and apologize.

Related:

New York Jets: Remember September 11th, 2001

 

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