Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass tried to to find the silver lining after the Lakers' early exit from the playoffs ... congratulating the Purple & Gold on winning the In-Season Tournament a few months ago -- but it was met with so much backlash, she ended up scrubbing the post from her page.
LeBron James and Co. got booted from the postseason on Monday ... falling to the Denver Nuggets in Game 5 of their first-round matchup.
Bass attempted to share some positivity shortly after the final buzzer ... pointing out the Lake Show had a bit of success earlier in the 2023-24 campaign when L.A. won the meaningless mid-season competition in December.
"Tough season, but at least we won the in season tournament," Bass said. "Proud of our team, @Lakers."
The post didn't sit well with fans ... as the goal every season is to win the NBA Finals, and no one cares about a fake championship.
Bass gave it another go after the first attempt ... posting, "You left it all on the floor -- thank you @Lakers."
That post is still up ... but Laker fans made sure to let her know they didn't forget about the initial congratulatory message.
To add insult to injury, Bron was non-committal when asked if he would return to the Lakers next season ... so fans are down bad right now.