There is a storm brewing within the Philadelphia 76ers organization and it involves their general manager.
The Sixers announced in an official statement on Wednesday, that they are launching their own independent investigation into the social media use of Sixers general manager Bryan Colangelo.
“An online media outlet filed a story linking multiple social media accounts to 76ers president of basketball operations Bryan Colangelo. The allegations are serious and we have commenced an independent investigation into the matter,” the Sixers said. “We will report the results of that investigation as soon as it is concluded.”
The Ringer published a story on Tuesday night about Colangelo’s use of burner accounts. Through their own investigation and cited evidence, the media outlet found that there were multiple accounts connected to the Sixers’ GM. However, what was said on these various Twitter accounts were damaging.
In numerous tweets, the anonymous Twitter accounts posted negative things about current Sixers’ Joel Embiid and Markelle Fultz, and former Sixers’ Jahlil Okafor and Nerlens Noel. The tweets also criticized current Toronto Raptors president Masai Ujiri and former Sixers GM Sam Hinkie.
Speaking of Embiid, the Sixers center told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski that Colangelo called him to deny the allegations.
“I talked to him and he said that he didn’t say that,” Embiid said. “He called me just to deny the story. Gotta believe him until proven otherwise. If true, though, that would be really bad.”
Colangelo gave a statement to The Ringer on Tuesday night, in response to the report about his social media use. The Sixers GM claimed that he only used one specific Twitter account, while denying use of the other four accounts.
“Like many of my colleagues in sports, I have used social media as a means to keep up with the news,” Colangelo said. “While I have never posted anything whatsoever on social media, I have used the @Phila1234567 Twitter account referenced in this story to monitor our industry and other current events. This storyline is disturbing to me on many levels, as I am not familiar with any of the other accounts that have been brought to my attention, nor do I know who is behind them or what their motives may be in using them.”
Nevertheless, this does not look good for Colangelo. If it is found true that he was using multiple Twitter accounts to throw his players under the bus, the Sixers must take action.
There is no excuse for these alleged actions. It is a shame that all of this is coming out after the Sixers had a great season, which saw them win their first playoff series since the 2011-12 season. Not to mention, Sixers head coach Brett Brown was reportedly rewarded with a three-year contract extension on Tuesday.
