The investigation into Philadelphia 76ers president of basketball operations Bryan Colangelo and five anonymous Twitter accounts is now shifting focus to his wife, Barbara Bottini, according to a joint report from ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski and Zach Lowe.
Per the report, Colangelo has talked to ownership about the possibility of her involvement, though it ultimately may not make a difference when it comes to his job security as 76ers ownership is “seriously considering Colangelo’s dismissal.”
“Philadelphia ownership has shown little, if any, inclination to separate Colangelo’s culpability in the matter should a family member or close associate be proven responsible for the postings,” wrote Wojnarowski and Lowe, citing league sources.
The fear is that the longtime basketball executive’s reputation as a result of these allegations, regardless of the investigation’s outcome, would prove detrimental to the team going forward — especially when it comes to trying to attract big-name players in free agency.
On Tuesday, The Ringer’s Ben Detrick broke a story connecting Colangelo to five “burner” Twitter accounts, which have posted tweets criticizing past executives including Toronto’s Masai Ujiri and some of the team’s star players including Joel Embiid, exposing medical information and trade strategy, and urging media members and bloggers to look into nonpublic team dealings.
The team announced a day later that they would be conducting an investigation into the reports, which is ongoing and yet to reach a verdict.
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