Lakers' Shannon Brown tweet denial of rumor starts rumor

(CBS/What's Trending) - Since the Lakers' sweeping exit from the playoffs, rumors have swirled about Pau Gasol and the All-Star center's sudden and disappointing play. Most observers credited his lame efforts to off-the-court issues with popular gossip pointing to dysfunction surrounding Gasol's girlfriend, Silvia Lopez Castro.

First there was word that Gasol and Castro had broken up. Then theories surfaced of a tiff between Castro and Kobe Bryant's wife Vanessa, which then resulted in a rift between Kobe and Pau. (Both were refuted.)

Well, backup shooting guard Shannon Brown wanted to be proactive in clearing his own air. He wrote on Twitter:

An unequivocal denial. Exactly what you do to combat a rumor. Good job, Shannon.

Only...no one even thought they were having an affair. Until now.

Rule number one in Public Relations is to ignore false Internet fodder. Talking about them, even in denial, will only enflame the rumor mills.

It would've served Brown, who is married to R&B singer Monica, to just ignore the gossip -- which, honestly, no one was really talking about. We and other publications are writing about it now only because Brown acknowledged it. Let's hope he learned his lesson.