Could today mark the end of the road?

June 1st, 2018 is Bryan Colangelo’s 53rd birthday. Usually that’s a fun day to celebrate, but this time it might not be. Why? Per Woj:

As a Philadelphia 76ers internal probe into anonymous Twitter accounts has become increasingly focused on the wife of president of basketball operations Bryan Colangelo, franchise ownership is seriously considering Colangelo’s dismissal, league sources told ESPN.

Keith Pompey reported that the investigation could be done within the next few days.

How has Colangelo taken these days? Per Pompey:

A league source said Colangelo was visibly shaken when the report broke while he was attending a workout in Los Angeles.

The Sixers announced the investigation on Wednesday morning in a written statement. As a result, Colangelo was not on hand for that day’s multiple workouts at the Sports Academy in Los Angeles, according to sources. Sources said Colangelo, who turned 53 today, also did not attend Thursday’s multiple workouts  in Las Vegas.

This is his professional career at the line, and it’s probably already tarnished, whether he stays or not.

Meanwhile, he’s back in Philly. John Clark, aka “Johnny Airport,” talked to him:

So he has no knowledge of who sent those tweets. Hmmmmm:

Colangelo, a two-time past NBA Executive of the Year, has discussed with ownership and upper management the possibility that his wife, Barbara Bottini, may have been involved in the postings of the tweets from so-called burner accounts, league sources said.

So far, 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, league sources said.

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Colangelo has told close associates that he believes he knows who is responsible for the tweets but has insisted to those inside and outside the investigation that he had nothing to do with the postings and was unaware of them until The Ringer brought them to the Sixers’ attention prior to publication of the story this week, league sources said.

Is there a chance he stays? A small one:

While many of Colangelo’s staff with the Sixers are bracing for his dismissal, some are still holding on to hope that he can somehow survive this firestorm with this job, sources say.

Ownership fears that Colangelo’s credibility inside and outside the organization may be too badly damaged to continue his job, especially within a month of a July free-agency period when the Sixers plan to pursue superstars such as LeBron James and Paul George to partner with young stars Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons.

Colangelo has already surrendered his cell phones in the investigation. We’ll see what happens today.

Nick Wright mentioned the site yesterday morning on FS1 after Kyle did his thorough investigation. He found more comments on the Disqus platform that were very similar to Eric Jr.

In other Sixer news, Ben Simmons is definitely dating Kendall Jenner, the team confirmed Brett Brown’s extension (with Bryan Colangelo listed in his current role, which shouldn’t be a surprise), and Joel Embiid did this:

The Roundup:

Aaron Nola and the Phillies split a four-game series with the Dodgers with a 2-1 win.

The pitching was the big story. Nola went seven strong innings with seven strikeouts, allowing just a run on two hits and a walk. Cy Young contender level. Seranthony Dominguez pitched the final two innings and did a beautiful job for the six-out save, striking out two and not allowing a runner on base.

Jorge Alfaro batted in both runs in the game, with Maikel Franco and Scott Kingery scoring those runs. Well really it was just Kingery, because Franco never touched home plate and the Dodgers never found out:

Not even close. But we’ll take it.

The Phils take their talents up to San Francisco for a weekend series with the Giants. First pitch tonight is at…10:15 PM. That sucks. Saturday is at 10:05 PM, and Sunday is at 4:05 PM. Nick Pivetta will take the mound tonight. Vince Velasquez will be on the mound tomorrow night and Jake Arrieta finishes it off.

Will new linebacker Corey Nelson fit in Mychal Kendricks’ old role?

“The plan is to just have competition and see what comes of it,” Schwartz said. “This time of the year you’re certainly open-minded for all positions. Whether it’s a player that’s a rookie, whether it’s a veteran … We have some young players that have worked up in our system. We have some guys that we brought from other teams and we have some new players on the roster. We’ll shake it all out, and when we get to the end of training camp, we’ll try to go forward with the best plan that we have.”

Some of this was OTA boilerplate that you hear every year; Schwartz later noted that “nobody is earning any starting jobs now.” Pressed on whether Nelson would get “first look,” Schwartz said: “I don’t know that you could consider anybody really getting a first look this time of year. Our reps actually are sort of geared more toward younger players, as opposed to veteran players. A lot of our developmental groups get more reps this time of year than the ‘first group’ … We don’t have depth chart. We’re just trying to roll guys through. Get guys experience. Guys are coming from different things.

“We have some young linebackers that are learning to play multiple positions. We talked a lot about that last year, being a key factor in our ability to overcome some injuries. Guys that could double dip and play Mike, Sam, Will, nickel, dime, and all those different things. So some of our players that have been here [before] are working on that. Some of our young players are focusing on one position. New guys are trying to pick up the scheme and sort of trying to find their place.”

Brandon Brooks almost retired after having to play for Bill O’Brien in Houston.

Nigel Bradham is now the “heartbeat of the defense,” according to Jim Schwartz:

“He’s been the heartbeat of our defense,” said Schwartz. “He’s a guy that plays with a lot of emotion. He’s a guy that, for lack of a better term, talks a lot of trash during the game. Gives us a lot of energy. He played some games this year. I think he ran about five extra miles just to get to the ball to talk.

“But that’s what gives him energy, and we feed off of that as defense also. Nigel’s always brought that. But the biggest contribution last year that he had taken a big step was being the defensive play caller when Jordan [Hicks] went down. A lot of times having to sort of temper that or temper his enthusiasm, be able to get all the calls, play multiple positions, that kind of stuff, I think those were all important things that he brought to our defense.”

Bradham played under Schwartz for a year in Buffalo, and became one bright spot among many former Schwartz guys signed to the team in free agency.

“Our relationship is very strong, obviously,” said Bradham. “We kind of bonded from day one. He’s always liked my style and energy.”

The 2019 NFL Draft’s strength could fit with the team’s biggest upcoming need, which is currently their strength.

The fan that was arrested for punching a police horse and mounted officer is suing the Eagles, city police, and state police because he says he never punched the horse and was beaten for no reason.

Finally, Dougie P discusses the art of the RPO:

A RADIO WARS update:

In other sports news, LeBron James scored 51 points in Game 1 of the NBA Finals, but Golden State took home the 124-114 win in overtime. But the big story came from JR Smith not knowing what the score was late in regulation and doing this:

Take it away Twitter:

https://twitter.com/_BWD_/status/1002398388049076225

Future Sixer (maybe) LeBron James walked out of his press conference after he told reporters he didn’t know what Smith was thinking even though reporters still asked the same question:

Mike Leach tweeted this out. I don’t know why, but I love it:

In the news, four peacocks escaped the Philadelphia Zoo. One of them is dead.

Spain has a new Prime Minister.

So we have a second brain located in our butts.