No one from the 76ers' ownership group or front office has issued a statement in support of ColangeloNBAE/GETTY IMAGES
76ers President of Basketball Operations Bryan Colangelo is expected to "lose his job" after an outside law firm hired by the team "wraps up its investigation" of Colangelo's Twitter activity, according to sources cited by Keith Pompey of the PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER. Sources said that Colangelo would "benefit from resigning as soon as possible so he doesn’t risk further damage to his reputation." But Colangelo "continues to deny the allegations." No one from the 76ers' ownership group, front office, or coaching staff has "issued a statement in support" of Colangelo. A source said, "They want to wait until the facts come out before commenting" (PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER, 6/2). In Philadelphia, David Murphy writes it is "difficult to envision a scenario in which it makes sense for the Sixers to keep Colangelo at the top of their chain of command." The simple truth is that Colangelo is "now a liability, and it doesn’t much matter whether it ends up being his fault" (PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER, 6/4). The INQUIRER's Pompey wrote there is "not an easy answer" to how Colangelo's tenure will be judged should he be fired. Some critics "never warmed to Colangelo," as there was something about his father, Jerry Colangelo, being the 76ers' Basketball Operations Chair when Bryan Colangelo was hired that "tainted his addition to the team." For some critics, Bryan Colangelo’s hiring had "more to do with nepotism than being a two-time NBA executive of the year." But Colangelo "made some solid decisions," most notably drafting F Ben Simmons first overall in the '16 Draft (PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER, 6/3).
STORY TIME: The GLOBE & MAIL's Cathal Kelly noted anyone in media who covered the Raptors in recent years "has a Bryan Colangelo story" from when he was the team's President of Basketball Operations & GM. When media members wrote something about Colangelo, that something "needn’t be especially critical, but you would get a note about it." The note "would be long, aggrieved and often arrived in dead of night." It is "not unusual to get irritated, encyclopedic notes from fans." Kelly: "It is, in my experience at least, completely unique to get them from the guy in charge." Colangelo "did this on the regular." Though a "genial presence in real life, his electronic persona was very different -- insecure, defensive, a sort of digital porcupine." Kelly: "Quills up at all times" (GLOBE & MAIL, 5/31).
