The Bryan Colangelo burner Twitter saga spawns some epic Twitter burns from other pro teams
NBA Twitter is a pretty wild and entertaining setting to begin with, but when an investigative story suggests one of the league's most prominent front office executives has been using burner accounts to defend his honor (and shirt collars) on Twitter?
Well, break out your party hats because we're drinking from the meme keg all night long.
If you thought the internet had fun mocking Kevin Durant for his own burner account debacle last year, it seems the people were even more excited to roast 76ers President Bryan Colangelo once The Ringer published a story about the exec's alleged Twitter habits.
According to that report, Colangelo may have been operating several Twitter accounts over the years. Those burner accounts were primarily used to defend/promote Colangelo while also criticizing Sam Hinkie, the former general manager in Philadelphia. But the accounts also occasionally criticized 76ers players, leaked undisclosed medical information, and tried to normalize Colangelo's very dumb and very oversized dress shirt collars.
Yes, this story is weird as hell, so you can imagine why social media essentially exploded once it picked up steam -- even as Colangelo denied the report.
There were a number of hilarious tweets referencing Colangelo, and one of the best came from the official account of a fellow NBA team. The Minnesota Timberwolves posted this video -- documenting them deleting a burner account -- before ultimately deleting it on Wednesday morning.
Straight up COMEDY.
Minnesota tweeted (then deleted) this video. pic.twitter.com/Lg6B7lMrUV — CBS Sports (@CBSSports) May 30, 2018
That tweet was received with rave reviews and a hefty supply of retweets and engagement, so it was seemingly a big win for the club's social media team. As such, it was a bit surprising when the tweet was deleted, leading us to wonder whether or not they received a call from someone within the club (or the league) telling them to take it down. If so, that person deserves to be boo'd by a large crowd of people.
But the Timberwolves weren't the only pro sports team to have some fun at the 76ers' expense. The Colorado Rockies, who are known for having one of the better social media presences in baseball, went in on Colangelo as well. It was great, clever stuff...and they get bonus points for not deleting it.
keep up the great work @rockies you are the best twitter account in the world and the best team inthe @mlb n everyone should try to be just like u — Colorado Rockies (@Rockies) May 30, 2018
I came across this gem from the lottery simulation website Tankathon.com, and while I initially rolled my eyes at the very tired "This is fine" meme, a closer inspection revealed that a Photoshop addition made it worth the retweet. The beauty is in the details.
And no major 76ers story involving Twitter is legitimized until Joel Embiid weighs in. He did so with a pretty excellent post, though a follow-up came saying that he wasn't buying The Ringer's report. "I don't believe the story. That would be insane," Embiid wrote.
Yes but, in fairness, the NBA is full of insanity.
Joel told me that @samhinkie IS BETTER AND SMARTER THAN YOU @AlVic40117560 #BurnerAccount — Joel Embiid (@JoelEmbiid) May 30, 2018
Heck, we even got the stat nerds from Basketball Reference laying down some ruthless jabs at Colangelo.
A lot of updates to the site for an off-day pic.twitter.com/RsVbdvB0ld — Basketball Reference (@bball_ref) May 30, 2018
Thank you, anonymous Twitter user https://t.co/4VY97iMwO7 — Basketball Reference (@bball_ref) May 30, 2018
That's just a small sample of the gems that were provided in the wake of the report, and there will presumably be a ton more as the story unfolds in the hours and days to come. Normally, I wouldn't blame anyone for staying away from Twitter for any period of time, but I'd give a strong recommend towards keeping tabs on this amazingly dumb story and the social media reactions attached to it. It's been an incredibly fun time already.