Colangelo said that someone deliberately set him up, and that the accounts are not hisNBAE/GETTY IMAGES
76ers President of Basketball Operations Bryan Colangelo has "continued to maintain his innocence" as the franchise investigates whether he "used burner Twitter accounts to criticize players and former colleagues and reveal team business," according to Jordan Schultz of YAHOO SPORTS. Colangelo said, "Someone’s out to get me … This is clearly not me.” Colangelo added that while he "can’t be sure someone deliberately set him up, he maintains the accounts are not his" (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 5/30). ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski said Colangelo “remains steadfast privately to some of the people who were named in some of these posts and internally in their investigation that he did not do this" ("OTL," ESPN, 5/30). In Philadelphia, David Murphy writes "perception" of the franchise is a "significant factor in attracting the level of free-agent star that the Sixers want and perhaps even need to add to their roster to compete." A free agent "often makes his decision based on concerns that would be secondary in other sports." Among those concerns are a franchise’s "prestige, and its ability to contend for a title, and its management, and its ability to attract other quality playes." It is "too early to say what the long-term ramifications of this latest bit of ridiculousness will be within that context" (PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER, 5/31). ESPN’s LZ Granderson said “this is just the beginning of what could be a messy legal battle” ("OTL," ESPN, 5/30).
ALL IN THE FAMILY? NBCSN’s Mike Florio noted there is "speculation that maybe it’s Colangelo’s wife who has some of the accounts, and then the question becomes, how much does he know about what she is doing? Did he put her up to it? This is just downright bizarre" ("PFT," NBCSN, 5/30). ESPN Adnan Virk: "It is too absurd to think a two-time executive of the year is sitting there with five burner accounts. Maybe it’s the wife or a close friend, but it was not him doing all five." Virk added, "I'm starting to buy the wife argument. Maybe I'm talking myself into it, but I’m thinking that maybe you are confessing things to your wife, she's trying to support you, it goes from there” (“Golic & Wingo,” ESPN Radio, 5/31).
ABOUT MORE THAN ONE EXEC: In Philadelphia, Keith Pompey writes the Sixers are "suddenly looking at a firestorm that could seriously damage their 'Trust the Process' rebuilding plan that has seemed to be headed toward championship contention." The team’s "main offseason goal" of signing a big-name free agent "could face new roadblocks." A league source said, "The damage is done. I don't know if the players can trust him. I think he lost the trust of the players unless it's proven definitively that it wasn't him" (PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER, 5/31). THE ATHLETIC's Derek Bodner wrote it is a "hard sell to convince everyone that something afoul isn't going on, that somebody high within the Sixers' front office didn't act with, at minimum, a jarring amount of recklessness" (THEATHLETIC.com, 5/30).
TRUST ISSUES: In Philadelphia, Sarah Todd noted after conversations with three current NBA players not on the Sixers roster, the "general consensus is that with the information provided in the original report it would be nearly impossible to trust Colangelo moving forward." One player said, "In today's world, you're guilty until proven innocent." Another player said of Colangelo, "If he’s letting that information get out there and can’t control the people around him from blasting this stuff on Twitter, then you can’t trust him" (PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER, 5/31). CBS Sports Net's Adam Schein said, "Assuming it is Bryan Colangelo, he’s got to go. There’s no coming back from ripping Joel Embiid, the face of the franchise" ("Time To Schein," CBSSN, 5/30). ESPN's Tony Kornheiser said this is an "issue of trust, that if you work for Bryan Colangelo and you cannot trust that he will keep your secrets with him, then I don’t know why you would want to work for him" ("PTI," ESPN, 5/30).
CAREER ENDER? ESPN's Wojnarowski said, "For everything that was tweeted out from those accounts, individually he may have survived any of them about a rival executive, maybe his own coach, but the things that came out from those accounts about ... the Sixers' superstar (Embiid), as one executive of another team said to me, ‘I would not survive that in my job if I made any kind of public comment about my star player like that'" ("OTL," ESPN, 5/30). SPORTSNET.ca's Michael Grange wrote it is "no exaggeration" that Colangelo's "career and personal reputation are whipping in the wind." If the allegations are proven true, it will "certainly end Colangelo’s career with the 76ers and his long run in the NBA." It would be the kind of "reckless, public misstep that can’t be survived, and would be a stain on a family name that has been held in high esteem in the NBA for more than 50 years" (SPORTSNET.ca, 5/30). In Philadelphia, Bob Ford writes this is the "end of Colangelo with the Sixers, even if it takes a while for the team to officially unfollow him." There is "too much smoke for there not to be a fire here" (PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER, 5/31).
SHOULD HAVE KNOWN BETTER: ESPN's Jemele Hill said, "It’s just hard to believe that somebody would be that thin-skinned to the point where they felt like they needed to defend themselves online" ("SportsNation," ESPN, 5/30). In Pennsylvania, Daniel Gallen wrote things "aren't looking good for Colangelo, whether he controlled the Twitter accounts or not." There was a "severe breach of trust" (PENNLIVE.com, 5/30). In DC, Tim Bontemps writes if Colangelo was "running the accounts, or someone within his orbit was, the chances of him keeping his job are slim" (WASHINGTON POST, 5/31). In Boston, Sherrod Blakely wrote it is "one thing to take shots at the media and even fellow league executives." Blakely: "But when you pull out the flamethrower on players while hiding behind the anonymity that can at times be part of Twitter, you might as well start packing for your next job because at that point it becomes a matter of when, not if, you are going to be fired" (NBCSPORTSBOSTON.com, 5/30).
NEVER REALLY FELT WELCOMED: Philadelphia-based KYW-CBS’ Don Bell said of Colangelo, "Fans never really loved him anyway. This is a (Sam) Hinkie town because of what he was able to do with ‘The Process.’ There is a saying here in Philadelphia, that Sam Hinkie died for our sins, and that in large part explains what the controversy may be about if it turns out to be true. ... It shows you why there would be wild insecurities on the part of Bryan Colangelo" ("Time to Schein," CBSSN, 5/30). ESPN's Pablo Torre said, "I don’t think that Bryan Colangelo anticipated that he would never be able to win the love of the fan base that he desperately wanted credibility with" ("Around The Horn," ESPN, 5/30).
STRANGE DAYS: ESPN’s Brian Windhorst said, “In my 15 years covering the NBA, this may be the strangest story that I’ve ever seen. ... Every NBA executive who has a Twitter account, which is almost everyone I know, because they see things on Twitter, better get their house in order" ("OTL," ESPN, 5/30). ESPN's Dan Le Batard said this is a "weird and crazy story, and this is 2018 journalism, where The Ringer is sniffing out accounts on social media" ("Highly Questionable," ESPN, 5/30). In Philadelphia, Paul Hudrick wrote Twitter has "already latched onto this story, so it may be tough for Colangelo in the court of public opinion." Hudrick: "Fair or not, perception is reality" (NBCSPORTSPHILADELPHIA.com, 5/30). NBA TV's Matt Winer said, "This is the most 2018 NBA story that you could possibly imagine, because it involves social media and weird spy-craft and trying to fool people." NBA TV's Dennis Scott: "We all know on our phones, once you press ‘enter,’ even if it is a burner account, it can be traceable" ("NBA GameTime,” NBA TV, 5/30). ESPN's Mina Kimes: "Twitter seems to be breaking our brains, because people as successful as Kevin Durant and Bryan Colangelo … shouldn’t be this petty, they shouldn’t have burners. But the democratization of criticism is making us all very sensitive and increasingly it’s clear some people are not cut out for that” (“Around The Horn,” ESPN, 5/30).
