New Laker Larry Nance Jr. deletes old tweet blasting Kobe Bryant

Larry Nance Jr. took to Twitter on Thursday night soon after being picked 27th overall by the Lakers in the NBA draft. It wasn't just to give an obligatory shout-out to the fans in L.A. -- it was to remove an inflammatory tweet about a new teammate and local legend.

Shortly after the Wyoming forward's name was announced as the newest Laker, a Nance tweet from three years ago regarding Kobe Bryant started making the rounds on social media.

Later Thursday night Nance deleted the tweet, in which he referenced Bryant's past legal trouble in Colorado, using the hashtag #rapist.

The retweets, however, are still out there.

Bryant was arrested in July 2003 on allegations of sexual assault. The criminal charges were eventually dropped and he settled a civil lawsuit.

Lakers General Manager Mitch Kupchak said he was unaware of the tweet about the incident until after drafting Nance.

“I've spoken to Larry Nance Jr., and I'm not in a position to really share information, but it is something that [Nance and Bryant] will have to discuss amongst the two of them,” Kupchak said. “My understanding, it's something that happened years ago, and in today's world, things don't go away, which doesn't make it any less offensive because it was said three or four years ago.”

It will definitely be interesting to see how this plays out after Bryant returns from vacation in Costa Rica.

Nance, who has battled back from a torn knee ligament and lives with Crohn's disease, was also drafted by the Harlem Globetrotters earlier this week. His father played in the NBA for 13 years, winning the league's first slam dunk contest in 1984.