SOCK PUPPETS CAN’T DUNK: 76ers To Investigate Bryan Colangelo’s Alleged Use of ‘Burner’ Twitter Accounts.

The 76ers president of basketball operations Bryan Colangelo appeared to use five fake Twitter accounts to criticize players like Joel Embiid, disclose sensitive information and share team strategy, reports The Ringer’s Ben Detrick.

The accounts posted from April 2016 to last week and criticized players like Jahlil Okafor and Markelle Fultz, coach Brett Brown and executives such as Sam Hinkie. The tweets disclosed nonpublic medical information about Okafor and gossip about Embiid and Fultz. The accounts always defended Colangelo.

When Detrick reached out to the 76ers about two of the accounts, the 76ers later confirmed Colangelo had been behind one of them. Despite not mentioning the other three Twitter accounts, those three were switched to private after Detrick’s inquiries.

And according to the New York Post, “Internet connects Twitter dots to Bryan Colangelo’s wife.” As sports blog Deadspin adds:

Amazingly, if [Barbara] Bottini did in fact run the accounts, Colangelo’s not even the most prominent sports executive to get anonymously and vigorously defended online by their spouse. Jane Skinner Goodell got caught quibbling with reporters from a burner account while defending the honor of her husband, Roger, last year.

Found via John Podhoretz, who tweets, “So let’s be clear. Roseanne destroyed a $100 million show and that wasn’t the craziest thing on social media yesterday. The craziest thing is the 76ers’ general manager.” (Colangelo is both president of basketball operations and general manager of the Sixers.)