Josh Hart on Lakers Rumors: 'There's a Lot of Snakes in the Industry'

As the Los Angeles Lakers continue to be a dysfunctional clown show, Josh Hart put to rest any rumors he spoke out negatively against Omari Spellman. 

After Spellman tweeted there was a "misunderstanding," Hart offered his own response:

The subject came up because ESPN.com's Baxter Holmes reported in his breakdown of the Lakers' drama that general manager Rob Pelinka didn't draft Spellman with the No. 25 pick in last year's NBA draft after hearing negative things about him during his time at Villanova, including from Hart. 

Holmes noted the Lakers had two separate war rooms for the 2018 draft. Pelinka and then-president of basketball operations Magic Johnson were in one and front-office executives and scouts, among others, were in the other.

The room with the scouts "expected" Spellman to be the pick because he was the highest-ranked player still on Los Angeles' draft board. Pelinka ultimately selected Michigan's Moritz Wagner, leading to people in the second war room "shocked" by the move. 

Hart and Spellman were at Villanova together during the 2016-17 season, but Spellman had to redshirt as a freshman due to an academic issue when he was in high school. 

One member of the Lakers coaching staff told Holmes that Pelinka secretly going "to a player and go behind everybody's else's back" before making a draft pick is part of the problem with the organization right now. 

Spellman wound up being drafted No. 30 overall by the Atlanta Hawks. He appeared in 46 games as a rookie, averaging 5.9 points and 4.2 rebounds. 

The Lakers have already had a memorable offseason since finishing a disappointing 37-45 in 2018-19. Johnson resigned from the organization on the final day of the regular season. They missed out on hiring Monty Williams and Tyronn Lue before finally landing on Frank Vogel as head coach.