Kobe Bryant absent as Lakers pitch to Carmelo Anthony

If ever there were a superstar whose accidental absence from a recruiting meeting with Carmelo Anthony would be forgiven, it is Kobe Bryant.

That's what took place on Thursday in Los Angeles, where the former New York Knicks star who is finalizing his free agent tour arrived at the Lakers practice facility to find that Bryant was nowhere to be found. The Lakers star and close friend of Anthony's was still flying back from a family vacation in Greece, so Anthony and his associates commenced without him as the week of wooing continued.