Bryan Colangelo Resigns After 76ers Investigation Reveals His Wife Was Behind Twitter Accounts Leaking Private Information About Players

Philadelphia 76ers president of basketball operations and general manager #BryanColangelo was under fire last week after reports showed he was tied to five burner Twitter accounts that leaked health-related and behavioral information about team players and criticized other NBA execs and officials. 

The accounts were found to be the doings of Colangelo’s wife, which prompted Colangelo to resign from his position. When Colangelo was questioned about the five burner accounts he maintained the accounts were in no way connected to him except for one that didn’t air out any detrimental information. Following his confession, the Philadelphia 76ers opened an independent investigation in which it said it would make its decision to keep Colangelo or fire him within 24 hours.

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But, why are the tweets such a big deal? For the 76ers a lot may be at stake. The information leaked in said tweets may destroy the team’s chances of locking in mega players like #LeBronJames and #PaulGeorge as the scandal could ruin the 76ers’ image for potential free agents.

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The end of the 76ers investigation concluded that while Colangelo wasn’t controlling four of the accounts responsible for the leaked information, his wife, Barbara Bottini, was. The announcement was made today by law firm Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP.

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“The evidence supports the conclusion that Ms. Barbara Bottini, Mr. Colangelo’s wife, established the Twitter accounts and posted content on those accounts,” the law firm said in a statement. “When interviewed, Ms. Bottini admitted establishing and operating the accounts. Forensic evidence corroborates her admissions.”