The Philadelphia 76ers are no strangers to a social media controversy involving a member of their organization. Earlier this year, the team saw turnover in its front office following a saga involving burner accounts that eventually were attributed to the wife of former general manager Bryan Colangelo. The accounts were critical of, among other things, players and former general manager Sam Hinkie.
On Saturday, new general manager Elton Brand released a statement regarding a new social media-based controversy. This time, it involves tweets that were sent by the father of big man Mike Muscala, who the team acquired in a trade during the offseason. While there were no specifics in the statement, Brand said the posts by Muscala’s father, Bob, “are unacceptable and in no way reflective of the beliefs of our organization.”
Sixers GM Elton Brand issues a statement on “offensive” social media posts from the father of Philly forward Mike Muscala: pic.twitter.com/vHBlxB4FwH
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) October 13, 2018
It was unclear what, exactly, Muscala said, as his Twitter account, @ChemicalHealth, hasn’t posted anything out of the ordinary for an older, conservative man. However, some sleuthing done by the Twitterverse that was compiled by Kyle Neubeck of Philly Voice showed that he, too, used an apparent burner account. In the case of Muscala, he posted racist tweets regarding the Jimmy Butler situation in Minnesota. (Viewer discretion is advised.)
Verdict seems to be: Bob Muscala has an account (one not hidden much, either) under the alias "MuskieBobber," whose locations match places Mike has been and features lots of pictures from the China tour. Has also said some pretty gross and/or coded stuff: pic.twitter.com/l9pn6B3qg9
— Kyle Neubeck (@KyleNeubeck) October 13, 2018
Mike Muscala also released a statement, and per Philly Voice, called his father’s social media comments “uncalled for and inappropriate.”
First and foremost, I want to apologize for my father’s offensive social media commentary. His comments were uncalled for and inappropriate, and they do not reflect who I am.
I’d also like to apologize to the 76ers and my colleagues across the NBA for the distraction my father’s comments caused.
I really appreciate the professionalism and support shown by Elton, Coach Brown, my teammates and the entire 76ers organization.
The @MuskieBobber Twitter account has been deleted in light of Brand’s statement and the discovery of the account.
