Following the recent Twitter burner account revelations, the Philadelphia 76ers and general manager Bryan Colangelo have mutually agreed to part ways.
The Philadelphia 76ers and their president of basketball operations/general manager, Bryan Colangelo, have agreed to mutually part following the investigation into suspicious Twitter burner accounts.
After the sensational revelations released by The Ringer last week that pointed to Colangelo operating multiple Twitter accounts as a means to defend his performance while also being critical of other members of the organization, the investigation by the New York law firm Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLC found that it was wife, Barbara Bottini, who was primarily responsible for the accounts.
As part of their findings, the firm stated:
"“Our investigation revealed substantial evidence that Mr. Colangelo was the source of sensitive, non-public, club-related information contained in certain posts to the Twitter accounts. We believe that Mr. Colangelo was careless and in some instances reckless in failing to properly safeguard sensitive, non-public, club-related information in communications with individuals outside the 76ers organization.”"
Here's the statement from Josh Harris. Cliffnotes...
— Rich Hofmann (@rich_hofmann) June 7, 2018
-- Sixers came to the conclusion Colangelo's ability to be GM was compromised
-- Colangelo resigned
-- Brett Brown is the interim GM
-- The search for a new GM will start immediately pic.twitter.com/pxRyIhgrBA
For his part, Colangelo has always maintained that he had no direct knowledge of the operation of the accounts, which he further emphasized following his resignation:
"”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.”"
Colangelo was brought on board by the Sixers in April 2016, a move widely seen at the time as being at the behest of the NBA head office due to the extended period of underperforming under the previous regime, led primarily by former general manager and president of basketball operations, Sam Hinkie.
In the three seasons leading up to Colangelo’s hiring, the Sixers had compiled a ghastly 47-199 record. Since taking over, Coilangelo oversaw the selection of Ben Simmons with the No. 1 overall pick in 2016, and most recently the draft-day trade that delivered the Sixers the 2017 No. 1 overall pick and guard Markelle Fultz.
All of the Bryan Colangelo haters in Philly have no clue how well he played the trade deadline game, which allowed #Sixers to get Ilyasova and Belinelli in February free agency rather than via trade. He made a mistake, but was damn good at acquiring very good players for nothing.
— Chris Sheridan (@sheridanhoops) June 7, 2018
Fultz’s lack of court time in his debut season, and the controversies surrounding his absence, were just a part of the confidential information that became public via the tweeting initiated by Bottini.
Among other things, the tweets indicated Colangelo’s frustrations with center Joel Embiid, former players Jahlil Okafor and Nerlens Noel, while also taking shots at his previous employer, the Toronto Raptors.
With the NBA Draft less than a fortnight away, and the most important free agency period in recent memory soon thereafter, finding a replacement for Colangelo is naturally going to be a pressing matter, with the Sixers announcing they be searching for a replacement immediately.
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Ultimately, the Sixers had simply no choice other than to terminate Colangelo, whose trust among the playing group and front office in general was virtually unsalvageable following this seemingly unprecedented set of events that unfolded in full view of the general public.