The Sixers have launched an investigation regarding a report by The Ringer intimating that president of basketball operations Bryan Colangelo could be behind five Twitter accounts that disclosed non-public information and criticized Sixers players and head coach Brett Brown.
The team issued the following statement Wednesday morning, less than 12 hours after the publication of the article:
An online media outlet filed a story linking multiple social media accounts to 76ers President of Basketball Operations Bryan Colangelo. The allegations are serious and we have commenced an independent investigation into the matter. We will report the results of that investigation as soon as it is concluded.
The Ringer report by Ben Detrick details the Twitter activity of the five accounts and speculates possible links between them. The report also included this statement from Colangelo:
“Like many of my colleagues in sports, I have used social media as a means to keep up with the news. While I have never posted anything whatsoever on social media, I have used the @Phila1234567 Twitter account referenced in this story to monitor our industry and other current events. This storyline is disturbing to me on many levels, as I am not familiar with any of the other accounts that have been brought to my attention, nor do I know who is behind them or what their motives may be in using them.”
Sixers star Joel Embiid reacted to the article throughout Tuesday night:
Joel told me that @samhinkie IS BETTER AND SMARTER THAN YOU @AlVic40117560 #BurnerAccount
— Joel “Do a 180” Embiid??? (@JoelEmbiid) May 30, 2018
Fun night on Twitter lmao.. All jokes asides I don’t believe the story. That would just be insane
— Joel “Do a 180” Embiid??? (@JoelEmbiid) May 30, 2018
More on Collargate:
• Report: Bryan Colangelo at center of bizarre Twitter situation
• Making sense of the alleged Bryan Colangelo Twitter mess
• Bryan Colangelo on Twitter story: 'Someone's out to get me'
• Author of Bryan Colangelo Twitter story explains how it all went down
• With free agency looming, Sixers better hurry Colangelo investigation