NBA Boss Accused of Anonymous Twitter Abuse

76ers boss allegedly trashed players, fellow execs
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted May 31, 2018 2:54 AM CDT
76ers Boss Accused of Trashing Players on Twitter
In this May 11, 2018 photo, Philadelphia 76ers general manager Bryan Colangelo speaks during a news conference at the NBA basketball team's practice facility in Camden, NJ.   (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)

The Philadelphia 76ers are investigating whether team president Bryan Colangelo used a variety of Twitter accounts to anonymously trash some of his own players and fellow executives and defend himself against criticism from fans and the sports media, the AP reports. The allegations were reported by the sports website The Ringer, which said it had been monitoring the accounts since February, when it received an anonymous tip. It said it found numerous connections among the accounts that suggested the same person was behind them. The five accounts under suspicion took aim at Philadelphia players Joel Embiid and Markelle Fultz, former Sixers general manager Sam Hinkie, Toronto Raptors executive Masai Ujiri, and former Sixers players Jahlil Okafor and Nerlens Noel.

Among other things, the accounts complained that Embiid, the 24-year-old All-Star center, was "playing like a toddler having tantrums" and was "a bit lazy," ''selfish," and "acting like a tool." The user of one of the accounts claimed to know Colangelo and described him more than once as a "class act." Colangelo acknowledged using one of the accounts to monitor the NBA industry and other current events but said he wasn't familiar with the four others. The Ringer said it initially asked the Sixers about just two of the accounts, and the same day the three others were suddenly made private. Embiid, Philly's franchise star, made a few wisecracks about the furor for his 1.4 million Twitter followers before standing up for Colangelo. "All jokes asides I don't believe the story," he tweeted. "That would be just insane."

(More Philadelphia 76ers stories.)

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