Philadelphia 76ers president of basketball operations and general manager Bryan Colangelo resigned on Thursday after his wife admitted to operating Twitter burner accounts that were uncovered more than a week ago in a report by The Ringer.
The five Twitter accounts were used by Colangelo’s wife, Barbara Bottini, to defend him, while also criticising team members and releasing sensitive, team-related information.
Bottini admitted to operating the accounts, which was corroborated, along with Colangelo being the source of the information, through the findings of the investigation by the law firm Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP.
“When interviewed, Ms. Bottini admitted establishing and operating the accounts. Forensic evidence corroborates her admissions,” the law firm said in a statement.
“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 organisation.”
Sixers statement: pic.twitter.com/NWmP5XmhVX
— Kyle Scott (@CrossingBroad) June 7, 2018
Colangelo refuted the information came from him, though he did call into question his wife’s actions.
“I vigorously dispute the allegation that my conduct was in any way reckless” Colangelo said in a statement. “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 recognise 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. While this was obviously a mistake, we are a family and we will work through this together.
“Although I am not directly responsible for the actions, I regret this incident occurred and understand that it has become a distraction for the team. Therefore, the organisation and I have mutually agreed to part ways.”
The 76ers accepted Colangelo’s resignation, saying in a statement it had “become clear Bryan’s relationship with our team and his ability to lead the 76ers moving forward has been compromised”.
Sixers coach Brett Brown will now handle basketball operations on an interim basis.
