New Laker Larry Nance Jr. deletes tweet that called Kobe Bryant 'rapist'

Wyoming forward Larry Nance Jr. received excellent news on Thursday night when he was selected by the Los Angeles Lakers with the 27th pick in the 2015 NBA draft, ahead of most projections and good enough for a guaranteed contract. The 22-year-old son of three-time NBA All-Star Larry Nance will join the Lakers with an opportunity to play serious minutes for one of the league's marquee franchises. It's a pretty good situation for someone who requires regular infusions of medication to combat Crohn's disease.

Despite all those positives, Nance now joins the Lakers facing the possibility of awkwardness with the team's biggest star. Shortly after his selection, Nance opted to delete a tweet from May 2012 that referred to Kobe Bryant's July 2003 arrest for sexual assault. The case was settled out of court, and Bryant apologized to his accuser without admitting guilt.

Take a look at Nance's deleted tweet here (via collegespun.com):

It appears that the Lakers were aware of the tweet before they made the decision to draft Nance:

Nance was 19 at the time of his tweet, so he can probably chalk it up to youthful indiscretion. Nevertheless, he probably has some work to do to make amends with the Lakers icon. As of now, though, the team doesn't seem to consider the potential uneasiness to be much of a problem.

- - - - - - -

Eric Freeman is a writer for Ball Don't Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at efreeman_ysports@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!

Follow @FreemanEric