Sixers

Bryan Colangelo Is Going With The Shaggy Defense

By Kyle Scott

Published: May 30th, 2018 · 8:33 AM EDT

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We’re just going to start rolling out posts on this all day as things happen. Buckle up.

Bryan Colangelo denied other burner accounts besides (@Phila1234567), which he claims he used just to monitor Tweets and news, in a statement to The Ringer and directly to Shams:

Like many of my colleagues in sports, I have used social media as a means to keep up with the news. 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.

And to Shams:

In speaking to 76ers president Bryan Colangelo tonight in Los Angeles, Colangelo says he stands by his statement: No knowledge of “motives or origin.”

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) May 30, 2018

Bold strategy.

This leaves him no wiggle if indeed it turns out he was behind the other four accounts, which blasted everyone from Joel Embiid to Sam Hinkie.

Late last night, there was plenty of online sleuthing (always reliable!) that indicates that the same person was behind at least multiple accounts.

Most notably, three of the accounts in question – including the now-famous Eric Jr. account – all share what looks like the same phone number:

Sorry, Bryan. Got you.

Went to “reset password” and tried three of his burners. Every single one has a phone number ending in 91. This is clearly not a coincidence.

*note*: I cropped out Colangelo’s email addresses from the picture pic.twitter.com/qKS7KpIJNo

— Adam Aaronson (@SixersAdam) May 30, 2018

Sixers beat writer Tom Moore noted that the number he has for Colangelo does not end in 91, but that he does have one that ends in 75, which matches the number on the (@Phila1234567) account which Colangelo admitted to using:

One I have does end with 75. https://t.co/xnmNjRKCwI

— Tom Moore (@TomMoorePhilly) May 30, 2018

So it can be established that one person is behind three of the accounts, but those accounts can’t yet be directly linked to Colangelo.