76ers, Bryan Colangelo Part Ways After Burner Twitter Accounts Scandal Connected To His Wife
Sixers president of basketball operations Bryan Colangelo and the team have agreed to part ways after allegations broke last week that he used fake Twitter accounts to criticize players like Joel Embiid, disclose sensitive information and share team strategy, ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reports.
Sixers coach Brett brown will oversee the team's basketball operations on an interim basis.
Colangelo issued the following statement:
"While I am grateful that the independent investigation conducted by the 76ers has confirmed that I had no knowledge of or involement in the Twitter activity conducted by my wife, I vigorously dispute the allegation that my conduct was in any way reckless. At no point did I ever purposefully or directly share any sensitive, non-public, club-related information with her. Her actions were a seriously misguided effort to publicly defend and support me, and while I recognize how inappropriate these actions were, she acted independently and without my knowledge or consent. Further, the content she shared was filled with inaccuracies and conjecture which in no way represent my own views or opinions. While this was obviously a mistake, we are a family and we will work through this together. Although I am not directly responsible for the actions, I regret this incident occurred and understand that it has become a distraction for the team. Therefore, the organization and I have mutually agreed to part ways."
In an expose, The Ringer's Ben Detrick reported that the accounts posted from April 2016 to last week and criticized players like Jahlil Okafor and Markelle Fultz, coach Brett Brown and executives such as Sam Hinkie. The accounts always defended Colangelo.
The Sixers retained the service of Paul/Weiss to investigate the accounts linked to Colangelo and also probed whether Colangelo's wife Barbara could be involved. Colangelo has said he doesn't know anything about four of the five accounts, and also told the team that he doesn't have knowledge of his wife's alleged involvement. John Clark of NBC Sports Philadelphia reported on Wednesday the team believes Colangelo didn't know anything about the accounts.
The law firm was able to connect the accounts to Colangelo's wife and she admitted to establishing and operating the account.
The official statement from the law firm can be found below:
Paul, Weiss Law Firm
When Detrick reached out to the 76ers about two of the accounts, the 76ers later confirmed Colangelo had been behind one of them. Despite not mentioning the other three Twitter accounts, those three were switched to private after Detrick's inquiries.
A week later, Detrick contacted the organization about the possible link between all five accounts, and the team released this statement from Colangelo:
"Like many of my colleagues in sports, I have used social media as a means to keep up with the news," Colangelo said in the statement. "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."
The Sixers retained the service of Paul/Weiss to investigate the accounts linked to Colangelo and also probed whether Colangelo's wife Barbara could be involved. Colangelo has said he doesn't know anything about four of the five accounts, and also told the team that he doesn't have knowledge of his wife's alleged involvement. John Clark of NBC Sports Philadelphia reported on Wednesday the team believes Colangelo didn't know anything about the accounts.
The 52-year-old Colangelo has worked in the NBA for almost three decades, and his father Jerry Colangelo is a former team owner and former chairman of USA Basketball.
Bryan is a two-time winner of the NBA's Executive of the Year Award. He's served as general manager of the Suns from 1995–2005 and president and general manager of the Raptors from 2006–2013. He's been with the 76ers since 2016.
Philadelphia went 52–30 this season, making the playoffs for the first time since 2012.
