Sixers President Bryan Colangelo Used Twitter Anonymously To Criticize Players, Coaches: Report

Philadelphia 76ers president of basketball operations Bryan Colangelo reportedly used anonymous Twitter accounts to criticize players, coaches and executives while also disclosing nonpublic information.

According to a report by The Ringer, who were tipped off by an anonymous source who worked in artificial intelligence, Colangelo used five accounts, one of which followed media members, Sixers employees, and NBA agents but didn't post any tweets.

The other four, however, posted tweets or replied to other users, with two of them being active in the last five months, and another one being active as recently as last week.

The Ringer received the anonymous tip back in February who cited the accounts all had a similar pattern of likes, follows, and tweets with the three newest accounts following 75 accounts in common.

Of the tweets that were posted, many of them reportedly criticize or gossip about players like Joel Embiid, Markelle Fultz, Jahlil Okafor, and Nerlens Noel, debate about his coaching staff's decisions and critique executives such as former Sixers general manager Sam Hinkie and Toronto Raptors president Masai Ujiri.

After verifying the source's claims, Ben Detrick of The Ringer emailed and then called the Sixers on May 22 to inquire about the accounts and Colangelo's involvement but only mentioned two of the accounts.

Following him reaching out, all five accounts went from public to private with the most recently active account unfollowing 37 accounts with ties to Colangelo as Detrick observed, having already followed the account through his own anonymous Twitter account.

A Sixers representative later called back claiming Colangelo only had knowledge of one account — the one which didn't tweet but followed media members, Sixers employees, and NBA agents. Then on Tuesday, Detrick contacted the organization again, this time inquiring about all five accounts which led to a 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," the statement read. "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."

Despite his denial, The Ringer believe there is truth behind the allegation as they asked readers to draw their own conclusions from the fact that not only did the Sixers admit Colangelo was behind one of the accounts but that all five accounts went dark following the initial inquiry.

Embiid was quick to respond to the report on Twitter as he tweeted one of the burner accounts.

It's not the first time someone in the NBA has been associated with a Twitter blunder. Golden State Warriors forward Kevin Durant was famously caught defending himself in the third person through his own account in September last year. The tweets, which were defending his decision to leave the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2016, were seemingly meant to be posted from another "fan" account.

"I use Twitter to engage with fans," he later apologized. "I think it’s a great way to engage with basketball fans. I happened to take it a little too far. I do regret using my former coach’s name and the former organization I played for. That was childish. That was idiotic, all those type of words. I apologize for that."