The Philadelphia 76ers are reportedly thinking about the dismissal of General Manager Bryan Colangelo. The Sixers are currently checking the suspicious Twitter accounts, which have spread information about team internals, among other things. Meanwhile, the wife of Colangelo is suspected.
This is reported by Adrian Wojnarowski and Zach Lowe from ESPN. The investigation is not over and a decision has not yet been made, but the Sixers’ owners are said to be extremely upset by the revelations of The Ringer, which makes Colangelo’s dismissal a possibility.
The Ringer’s report listed in detail how the suspicious accounts praised the GM’s work and how players such as Embiid and Markelle Fultz and former sixers Jahlil Okafor and Nerlens Noel criticised. In addition, some “insider information” such as the statement that a trade Okafors failed in the 2016/17 season because it had not passed a medical check.
Meanwhile, Colangelo’s wife, Barbara Bottini, is suspected of having been involved in the posts. This could still cost Colangelo his head, since according to ESPN it would make no difference to the Sixers whether he himself or a family member sold the damaging tweets.
The franchise fears that Colangelo’s reputation in the league could be too damaged to carry on his job, especially since the Sixers want a big star like LeBron James or Paul George in the Free Agency in the summer.
Colangelo is said to have confided to close confidants that he believes he knows who is behind the accounts. At the same time, the GM should continue to assert that it has nothing to do with these accounts.