In wake of The Ringer's bombshell report, alleging that Philadelphia 76ers GM Bryan Colangelo used several burner accounts to criticize players and personnel, the Sixers have launched their own investigation into the matter.
The team released the following statement this morning:"An online media outlet filed a story linking multiple social media accounts to 76ers President of Basketball Operations Bryan Colangelo. The allegations are serious and we have commenced an independent investigation into the matter. We will report the results of that investigation as soon as it is concluded."
The Ringer's Ben Detrick revealed five different Twitter accounts that were allegedly ran by Colangelo, including one with the handle @phila1234567, which Colangelo admitted to using "to monitor our industry and other current events."
Colangelo released the following statement in regards to the report.
"Like many of my colleagues in sports, I have used social media as a means to keep up with the news," the statement said. "While I have never posted anything whatsoever on social media, I have used the @Phila1234567 Twitter account referenced in this story to monitor our industry and other current events. This storyline is disturbing to me on many levels, as I am not familiar with any of the other accounts that have been brought to my attention, nor do I know who is behind them or what their motives may be in using them."
Sixers All-Star center Joel Embiid, who was scrutinized multiple times by the burner accounts, has said that he does not believe the story. Embiid tells ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski, “I talked to him [Colangelo] and he said that he didn’t say that. He called me just to deny the story. Gotta believe him until proven otherwise. If true though, that would be really bad.”