It’s one of the most bizarre stories in recent memory, but also a story that is wholly and emphatically a product of our time. Earlier this week, The Ringer published a bombshell report alleging that Sixers GM Bryan Colangelo has been criticizing the team and its players using burner accounts on Twitter.
Naturally, Colangelo has denied these allegations, claiming that he is the victim of some elaborate setup. The Sixers immediately launched an internal investigation into the matter, while amateur Twitter sleuths quickly got to work as well, determined to get to the bottom of who’s behind the various tweets in question and the accounts they’re connected to.
While one user discovered that someone tweeted from one of the accounts during a Colangelo press conference, it wasn’t enough to exonerate him from any wrongdoing; in fact, further probing revealed that Colangelo’s wife, Barbara Bottini, had both her phone number and email address attached to one of the accounts and could be connected to at least three of the burner accounts total.
ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski has reported that Colangelo is “fighting for his professional life” as the team concludes its probe, and Brian Windhorst added on Friday afternoon that the Sixers could come to decision about his future with the franchise within the next 24 hours.
https://twitter.com/BlazersBySagar/status/1002677549279744000
One NBA executive believes that the only possible way for Colangelo to keep his job is to somehow present tangible evidence that he’s been set up. Otherwise, it’s difficult to imagine a scenario in which the Sixers keep him in place.
Even if it were his wife and she was doing so independently of him, it’s clear she leaked sensitive information to the public that could be detrimental to the organization. Public perception has already turned toxic, and with a busy offseason fast approaching, the franchise faces a difficult decision regarding its future over the weekend.
