Bryan Colangelo hired as advisor by Italian club BC Roma
Former Philadelphia 76ers president Bryan Colangelo, who resigned in 2018 following a burner account scandal, has been hired as an advisor by Italian
Former Philadelphia 76ers president of basketball operations Bryan Colangelo has been hired as an advisor by Italian professional club BC Roma. The move marks a return to basketball for the two-time NBA Executive of the Year following his 2018 resignation from the Sixers.
Colangelo has a notable history with Italian basketball. While leading the Toronto Raptors, he used the first overall pick in the 2006 NBA Draft to select Italian center Andrea Bargnani. The Chicago Bulls selected LaMarcus Aldridge with the second pick and traded him to Portland.
Draft History Under Scrutiny
Colangelo's draft decisions with top picks have been a point of criticism. In 2017 with the Sixers, he traded with the Boston Celtics to move up and select Markelle Fultz first overall. Boston selected Jayson Tatum with the third pick acquired in that deal.
His tenure in Philadelphia also involved several trades that nearly cost the franchise a key future asset. In 2016, he traded Jerami Grant and a top-20 protected 2020 first-round pick to the Oklahoma City Thunder for Ersan Ilyasova. Colangelo later traded that same protected pick away in 2017 to draft Anzejs Pasecniks 25th overall.
Pasecniks played 28 career NBA games. The Sixers could have drafted Derrick White or Josh Hart with that selection. The protected pick was eventually recovered by then-general manager Elton Brand in 2019 when he traded Markelle Fultz to the Orlando Magic, a move the report credits with allowing Philadelphia to later draft Tyrese Maxey.
The Burner Account Scandal
Colangelo's departure from the Sixers was precipitated by a scandal involving secret social media accounts. His wife, Barbara Bottini, who is from Northern Italy, operated anonymous "burner" Twitter accounts that disparaged players and revealed team-sensitive information. The accounts were reportedly named Eric Jr, Honest Abe, and Still Balling.
Colangelo stated he knew nothing about the activities, but he resigned as president in June 2018. The report describes it as one of the more embarrassing NBA sagas in recent history. It also notes his famous high-collared shirts were credited to his wife's Italian fashion influence.
His new role with BC Roma, a club in Italy's Lega Basket Serie A, represents his first official position in basketball since leaving the NBA. The report concludes by noting the Philadelphia 76ers, the team he left, now have brighter days ahead.
