Los Angeles Lakers president of basketball operations Rob Pelinka evoked the memory of legend Kobe Bryant during a meeting with forward Eric Dixon ahead of the 2025 NBA draft.

The Lakers also went ahead and signed Eric Dixon, a big man who went undrafted, to a two-way contract. Dixon, who is 6-feet-8 and 265 pounds, spent five years in the NCAA with the University of Villanova, and he led the nation in scoring this past season with an average of 23.3 points a game.