Roundtable: Thoughts on Bryan Colangelo’s alleged burner accounts

BOSTON, MA - MAY 9: Bryan Colangelo of the Philadelphia 76ers looks on during Game Five of the Eastern Conference Semifinals of the 2018 NBA Playoffs against the Boston Celtics on May 9, 2018 at TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by David Dow/NBAE via Getty Images)
BOSTON, MA - MAY 9: Bryan Colangelo of the Philadelphia 76ers looks on during Game Five of the Eastern Conference Semifinals of the 2018 NBA Playoffs against the Boston Celtics on May 9, 2018 at TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by David Dow/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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PHILADELPHIA, PA – APRIL 11: a general view of the Philadelphia 76ers logo during the game against the Milwaukee Bucks on April 11, 2018 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE via Getty Images) /

Joey DiProsperos

Where do I begin with this one?

Last evening actually started off on a fairly positive note. Brett Brown finalized a well-deserved three-year extension, and all seemed pretty well in Process Land. It was just another relatively uneventful day in the offseason. But as the night progressed, the mood became less “nothing more to see here” and more “the simulation has gone off the rails”.

The internet nearly broke after The Ringer dropped their article detailing Bryan Colangelo’s, aka “Eric jr”, alleged Twitter habits. You’ve probably heard the main crux of the story by now, so I won’t bore you with an entire summary of it. There is too much to take in and consider for a roundtable piece.

This NBA season has been full of absurd and just flat-out weird stories, those of which the Sixers have been no stranger to. You obviously had the curious tale of Markelle Fultz’s shoulder, but you also had Kawhi Leonard’s self-induced exile from the Spurs, the Rockets rushing the Clippers’ locker room through a back door, and of course the Ball family’s seemingly infinite amount of hijinks.

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This debacle is in its own league, even by Process standards. It makes those stories look like amateur hour. It’s so hilarious and preposterous that it doesn’t even seem real. Everything: the five accounts, the people he vented about, the wreckless nature of what he was doing, etc. It’s been close to 24 hours since the story broke and I still haven’t fully processed it.

It’s one thing for an executive to have multiple social media accounts to check in on the fan base anonymously. I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s common practice throughout the league. Nothing wrong with that. But to allegedly use those accounts to blatantly rail against your own organization and players for no reason other than to defend your decisions? That’s inexcusable.

But the fact of the matter is that we can’t be irrational and immediately jump to conclusions about this situation. You are innocent until proven guilty. A lot of the evidence is admittedly circumstantial, and until something concrete comes out of the investigation, whether it’s a confession on behalf of BC (which I don’t think will happen) or the revelation that it was someone else who sent out the tweets, all we can do is just bask in the madness of this whole ordeal.

With that being said, vindicated or not, I would be surprised if BC still has his job in the coming days. Just being associated with an incident of this nature can permanently taint your reputation. Plus, the draft and free-agency (especially free-agency) are right around the corner, and you can’t help but wonder if something like this would influence a player’s decision to play in Philly, especially if those embroiled in this mess are still a part of the team.