One in the hand is worth two in the bush. The early bird gets the worm. Never put off to tomorrow what you can do today. These are all life lessons/clichés that have been ingrained in our minds since we were little. However, as we’re now in the age of the Internet and social media, perhaps it’s time for another saying to be added to the books: Never tweet.
This surely would have benefited Larry Nance, Jr., who metaphorically soiled his pants after someone dug up his tweet about Kobe Bryant from a few years ago. As Eric Pincus of the Los Angeles Times reports:
“I heard my named called with the 27th pick. It was about two minutes until I found out about that,” Nance said on Monday. “About 24 hours went past, I felt like I was going to throw up, sick to my stomach. I was just embarrassed in myself. I felt so bad about what I had said. I just wanted to apologize right away.” Nance sent Bryant a message. How concerned was he about the All-Star’s response?
“Terrified,” Nance said.
Now, Nance probably could have never foreseen that he was going to play for the Lakers and with Kobe one day. Add in the fact that he was still a teenager back then, and it’s pretty excusable. Teenagers do dumb things. Hell, everyone does dumb things, even when they’re not a teenager anymore. That was basically Kobe’s message to Nance once he apologized.
“Once I got the ‘Hey, you’re a kid. We’ve all said and done things we’ve regretted. It’s water under the bridge. Welcome to the family [from Bryant],’ I immediately felt my stomach release. There was a big knot.”
Nance probably shouldn’t relax too much. While Bryant may say it’s water under the bridge, this is the Black Mamba we’re talking about. The man is prone to holding a grudge or two. It wouldn’t be surprising if Kobe claims Nance as “his” rookie, at which point we’ll know the exact moment Nance’s life turned to hell. The path to forgiveness will likely be one paved with donut runs, bag carrying, and other common (as well as probably extremely uncommon) rookie hazing.
The lesson here, as always: Do. Not. Tweet.
(Via Los Angeles Times)
