Tuesday was supposed to be a slow night in the NBA world. The Warriors finished off the Rockets on Monday, setting up the fourth installment of the Cavs-Warriors reoccurring series in the NBA Finals which won’t start until Thursday.
However just after 9 p.m. ET, Ben Detrick of The Ringer dropped a bombshell story that alleged five separate burner Twitter accounts were being used by Philadelphia 76ers GM Bryan Colangelo to defend himself, criticize current players, and more. The story sent the rest of NBA Twitter into a frenzy, including Joel Embiid, with a mixture of disbelief and glee at the sheer absurdity of the report, but also at how it seemed more than plausible that Colangelo, or at minimum someone close to him with inside information into the organization, was indeed running these accounts.
The specificity with which the accounts tweeted about information that had not been released on the record regarding the Sixers and the lengths they went to in order to defend Colangelo makes it hard to believe it wasn’t either him or someone in his circle. In any case, the Sixers are taking the matter seriously and have launched an investigation into exactly what’s happening with those accounts.
Colangelo has yet to offer a full public statement via release, instead choosing to offer statements to various reporters on the record. The latest was to Jordan Schultz of Yahoo, who Colangelo told he believes this entire thing is a set up, meant to take him down.
Bryan Colangelo tells me via text: "Someone's out to get me. … This is clearly not me." Colangelo adds that he's "hopeful to resolve this soon."
— Jordan Schultz (@Schultz_Report) May 30, 2018
Ever since he took the job after Sam Hinkie was pushed out of power in Philadelphia, there has been a tense relationship between Colangelo and the Process-loving fans of the Sixers. It would be quite the commitment to the long con to have started those accounts when he took over and kept them active just waiting to eventually frame him a few years later, but nothing is impossible as we’ve learned simply by the existence of this scandal, for lack of a better term.
The findings of Philly’s investigation will be fascinating. If it is Colangelo, then he’s assuredly gone. If it’s anyone else in the organization, they’re gone. If it’s someone in Colangelo’s family or circle of close friends, then there are questions about him relaying sensitive team information to folks outside the organization and his status still could be in question. If it’s someone else completely, then this is somehow going to be even crazier.
