Former Philadelphia 76ers general manager Bryan Colangelo had some frank words for his own wife in the wake of a scandal involving burner Twitter accounts that she admitted were linked to her. The 76ers announced Colangelo’s resignation Thursday morning.
In a statement on his resignation, Colangelo called the actions of his wife, Barbara Bottini, “a seriously misguided effort to publicly defend and support me.”
He could’ve stopped there, but Colangelo continued, taking great care to distance himself from her even as he upped the criticism. “While I recognize how inappropriate these actions were, she acted independently and without my knowledge or consent. Further, the content she shared was filled with inaccuracies and conjecture which in no way represent my own views or opinions.”
Colangelo further added: “At no point did I ever purposefully or directly share any sensitive, non-public, club-related information with her.” His full statement is below:
Bryan Colangelo statement vs #Sixers: pic.twitter.com/XLhY3qvbwo
— Tom Moore (@TomMoorePhilly) June 7, 2018
Colangelo found himself in hot water after The Ringer posted a bombshell report last week regarding a collection of Twitter accounts that criticized 76ers players including stars Joel Embiid and Markelle Fultz, disclosed sensitive information, and outlined team strategy.
Shortly after the story, Embiid had his own reply to the news.
Joel told me that @samhinkie IS BETTER AND SMARTER THAN YOU @AlVic40117560 #BurnerAccount
— Joel “Troel” Embiid (@JoelEmbiid) May 30, 2018
The 76ers hired New York-based law firm Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP to conduct an independent investigation into who owned the accounts, which they concluded did in fact belong to Bottini.
After the news broke Colangelo was widely mocked, with The Ringer’s Rodger Sherman wondering what other decisions he made while running the team he would attempt to pin on his wife.
someday Bryan Colangelo is going to insist it was his wife's idea to include an additional first-round draft pick while trading up to take Markelle Fultz instead of Jayson Tatum
— Rodger Sherman (@rodger) June 7, 2018
Sucks that Bryan Colangelo won’t get to be uninvited from the White House
— Jawn Gonzalez (@JohnGonzalez) June 7, 2018
These things can co-exist.
1. Bryan Colangelo may have not known what his wife was tweeting.
2. Bryan Colangelo should still be fired.
— Joe Giglio (@JoeGiglioSports) June 6, 2018