Joel Embiid and Dwyane Wade Fire Back at Sixers GM Who Reportedly Made Fake Twitter Accounts to Trash Players

This is the weirdest NBA story of the year.

Adam K. Raymond

May 30, 2018

The wildest NBA story of the year broke on Tuesday when The Ringer published a lengthy investigation into a handful of Twitter accounts allegedly maintained by Philadelphia 76ers GM Bryan Colangelo.

The accounts were used to bash players, reveal previously-unreported insider information and defend Colangelo’s penchant for weird shirt collars, among other things.

One tweet called former Sixers center Nerlens Noel a “selfish punk.” Another revealed information about a knee injury and failed physical by former Sixers center Jahlil Okafor. A handful of tweets bashed former Sixers GM Sam Hinkie and one remarked that Colangelo “is a class act.”

Colangelo has denied being behind all but one of the accounts, which just so happens to be the only one that didn’t tweet. But his team appears to be taking the story seriously. “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 team said in a statement.

Sixers announce they have launched an official investigation into the allegations of Twitter misuse by GM Bryan Colangelo: pic.twitter.com/xNDEgQczq7

— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) May 30, 2018

After the story broke, some of the players attacked by the accounts linked to Colangelo responded. Joel Embiid, the budding Sixers superstar, was called a “toddler,” criticized for hiding an injury from the team and torched for dancing at a Meek Mill concert while he was banged up. “Too bad that Embiid danced like a fool and the whole disaster happened, next time he will think twice before mocking his team,” a tweet said.

Embiid, a much more skilled Twitter user than Colangelo, responded like this:

BRUH pic.twitter.com/hv59PDxlgY

— Joel Embiid (@JoelEmbiid) May 30, 2018

Joel told me that @samhinkie IS BETTER AND SMARTER THAN YOU @AlVic40117560 #BurnerAccount

— Joel Embiid (@JoelEmbiid) May 30, 2018

Fun night on Twitter lmao.. All jokes asides I don’t believe the story. That would just be insane

— Joel Embiid (@JoelEmbiid) May 30, 2018

One of the Colangelo-linked accounts also took a shot at the Miami Heat’s Dwyane Wade. Here’s the relevant bit from The Ringer’s story.

In two responses to a February 2017 tweet from actress Gabrielle Union, who pointed out that Tom Brady didn’t visit the White House when Barack Obama was president, Eric jr went on the attack. ‘I sat NEXT to you and [Dwyane Wade] at Beijing Olympics and saw you both being rude nasty to little kid fan,’ the account said. ‘Had to eat yr pizza. … You showed no respect to this little kid, who are you to stand on high grounds? Never looked at DW the same after that.’ During the 2008 Olympics, Jerry Colangelo, then the managing director of the U.S. men’s national basketball team, was in Beijing. “

Both Wade and his wife Gabrielle Union responded, letting Colangelo know that she didn’t even go to the Olympics in 2008.

I guess all black people do look alike 🤷🏾‍♂️ because @itsgabrielleu wasn’t at the Olympic in 08. Clearly Eric Jr lied 🤥 https://t.co/Ofo48glcSw

— DWade (@DwyaneWade) May 30, 2018

Well ain't this interesting. I didnt go to the Beijing Olympics so whoever wrote the tweets created a whole rude celeb fantasy for a very specific reason, an attempt to discredit me for my tweets about athletes not wanting to go to the White House 🤔🤔🤔 https://t.co/OozdMUziPL

— Gabrielle Union (@itsgabrielleu) May 30, 2018