Bryan Colangelo resigned from his post as Philadelphia 76ers’ president of basketball operations, the team has announced on Thursday. Colangelo, who also served as 76ers’ general manager, decided to offer his resignation after it was discovered that his wife, Barbara Bottini, used fake Twitter accounts to 76ers’ players.
Bottini admitted being behind the fake accounts, while it remains unknown whether Colangelo knew anything about her actions.
“The Philadelphia 76ers organization has accepted the resignation of President of Basketball Operations Bryan Colangelo, effective immediately. We appreciate Bryan’s many contributions during his time leading our basketball operations and thank him for the work he did in positioning the team for long-term success.” – said Philadelphia 76ers managing partner Josh Harris in a statement released on Thursday.
“An independent investigation by New York-based law firm Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP was conducted into certain anonymous social media accounts that posted information concerning the club, personnel, and related topics (a statement of the findings is attached). It has become clear Bryan’s relationship with our team and his ability to lead the 76ers moving forward has been compromised.“
While they look for the best candidate to replace Bryan Colangelo, the organization decided that head coach Brett Brown will oversee basketball operations on an interim basis.
Statement from 76ers Managing Partner Josh Harris: pic.twitter.com/eCmz42FD7P
— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) June 7, 2018
Following his resignation, Colangelo released a statement in which he denies that he knew anything about his wife’s actions.
“While I am grateful that the independent investigation conducted by the 76ers has confirmed that I had no knowledge of or involvement in the Twitter activity conducted by my wife, I vigorously dispute the allegation that my conduct was in any way reckless. At no point did I ever purposefully or directly share any sensitive, non-public, club-related information with her” – said Colangelo in a statement.
“Her actions were a seriously misguided effort to publicly defend and support me, and while I recognize how inappropriate these actions were, she acted independently and without my knowledge or consent.” – he continued while stating that he didn’t resign but that he and the organization mutually parted ways.
Bryan Colangelo is the son of former Phoenix Suns owner Jerry Colangelo. He began working in the Suns organization in 1991, before taking over the GM position from his father in 1995. He left the position in 2006, taking over as president of basketball operations and GM of the Toronto Raptors. After spending 7 years with the Raptors, he decided to step down and worked as a consultant before accepting front office job with the 76ers. During his executive career in basketball, Colangelo won the NBA Executive of the Year Award on two occasions.
