On Tuesday night, after The Ringer's Bryan Colangelo story broke, it sent the social media universe into a frenzy. Some were confused, some were angry, some were dying of laughter, all were entertained. I want to focus on one prevailing sentiment echoed on all forms of media over the last 24 hours that I think plays a major part in all this. And that's the opinion that regardless of whether or not Bryan Colangelo is guilty or innocent, he needs to lose his job.
I would hate to be Joshua Harris right now. He's stuck between a rock and a hard place no matter how this story shakes out. And that's why it's so scary, especially if Bryan Colangelo is innocent-and I'm not saying he is. The fact that somebody so easily, could destroy someone's reputation, and critically damage an organization, merely with a Twitter account and a few thumb presses on a keypad is scary. Proof of guilt is going to be hard to acquire, and without proof, firing Bryan Colangelo would open up a massive can of worms.
For one, it would open the 76ers up to litigation should Colangelo seek to fight any of this in court. But maybe even worse, it would set a horrible precedent that just any Average Joe could create a burner account and put your professional career in jeopardy. Yes, perception can be reality, and firing him regardless may be the best thing for the organization, but if I were Joshua Harris, I would not want to be the one who opened that Pandora's Box.
Imagine this scenario. You get a job at a law firm, and put years of hard work in getting into prestigious schools, getting a law degree, and amassing a resume that would get you accepted into said firm. While working at this law firm, you get into a spat with a vindictive colleague. That colleague really wants to damage you, so he monitors your Twitter account, gets a sense of how you like to tweet, follows a large percentage of your follows, and follows all of your family members as well. Then, he tweets vile, racist, of compromising information on the account over the span of a few weeks or months. Sometime later, under another anonymous account, he contacts the CEO or partners and tells one of them they need to take a look at this, and leaks it to some other colleagues at the firm. All of a sudden, half the firm thinks you are a racist or are tweeting out confidential information, and since it's hard to prove the non-existence of anything, they have no choice but to let you go, or risk dissension within the firm.
Do I think there would be an epidemic of these scenarios? No, but I guarantee you they will happen more frequently if that door is opened than they would prior. Trolls and idiots become emboldened. 15 years ago, anyone could speak at college campuses around the country. In 2018, after a handful of years of entitled, self-important, and uneducated morons snuffing out free speech because of outrage culture, it's almost impossible for any speaker who doesn't conform to the echo chamber belief system to even appear at a university without death threats or riots. It started off small, and has since grown exponentially to where it is an epidemic. Once a few people saw they could act this way and get away with it, more and more decided to do the same and now it is commonplace across the country. If you give people an inch, they will take a mile. Joshua Harris would be one of the people who set the precedent that goes way beyond sports. It's a life issue, not just a sports issue. Like it or not, people deserve a right to due process, and if innocent, no one should lose their job over something they didn't do.
Which is why, internally, the Sixers may be oddly rooting for Colangelo to be guilty of this. If they find proof it is him, then the decision is easy. You fire him and move on. You don't need to weigh the pros and cons of unethically terminating an employee, setting a horrible standard, and trying to protect the welfare of your organization and preserve its public perception. That's no decision any owner would want to struggle with. The sooner this is resolved, the sooner the organization can heal, repair the front office, get ready for the draft and free agency, and get back to chasing a title. Without proof, I can't see how this decision doesn't drag out, whether it be organizationally or legally, and that's something no franchise wants hanging over their head as they venture into the new league year.
In the end, the conclusion of this will be nothing short of bonkers. Either you'd have the most elaborate and patient framejob in sports history or you have the most meticulous and thorough burner persona ever conceived. Not only were 5 accounts created, but they tweeted like an obnoxious and deranged 12 year old with horrible grammar and Tourette's-like behavior. To be so committed to misdirect the public with a crafted persona would be a calculated and meticulous operation. Conversely, a framejob drawn out over the length that these accounts were created and the cleverness required to pull it off would take almost a genius and maniacal-level obsession.
Regardless, as unfortunate as it is, the quickest fix solution may be the best solution, and for the Sixers finding guilt and moving on may be the only option that takes care of both.
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