Notable Iranian-American venture capitalist Shervin Pishevar is getting dunked on, in a proverbial sense, by Twitter following a thread in which he claims late Los Angeles Lakers legend Kobe Bryant was preparing to leave Nike.

Pishevar said he and his team pitched Bryant in December 2019 on a shoe concept and a company that would essentially be owned by the players. He goes on to state there were “witnesses” to the pitch meeting, including the manager of Olympic track star Usain Bolt.

Here's the claim:

But much of the Twittersphere is calling B.S. on the notion Kobe Bryant was on the verge of finalizing a new business deal, including Darren Rovell of The Action Network.

Rovell stated Kobe was willing to “explore” all his options outside a Nike endorsement. However, Rovell was also quick to point out the shoe idea was not truly his idea, and he merely took a pitch meeting to gauge opportunity:

Other users questioned Pishevar's motives behind even sharing the story and twisting the details. Some challenged his integrity:

There were also those who suggested Pishevar is being ridiculous for alluding to knowledge of Kobe Bryant's future motives and plans:

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More still just do not believe the meeting happened with any real intent in spite of Pishevar's follow-up tweets:

On the one hand, it would hardly be surprising to learn of Bryant, ever the forward-thinking man, pursuing some kind of business venture that would further empower players.

Simultaneously, the timing of Pishevar's tweets are rather curious, and it is a bit nonsensical for him to act as if he had a direct line to Kobe's thinking. As Darren Rovell suggested, the meeting appears to be nothing more than a speculative occurrence. That is hardly an indicator Kobe Bryant was actually ready and willing to leave Nike.