Bryan Colangelo lost his job as GM of the Philadelphia 76ers after an investigation linked his wife to multiple, disparaging burner accounts on Twitter used to criticize the organization and its players, among other things. After the news, people tried to link other NBA execs to burner accounts. One exec that almost definitely doesn’t have an account? Pat Riley.
Riley, team President of the Miami Heat, spoke with Anthony Chiang of the Palm Beach Post, where the 73-year-old admitted he still has a flip phone and doesn’t use his own personal Twitter account.
“I still have this kind of phone that flips… Is that what a burner phone looks like? I don’t have any. I’ve tweeted one time. I do have a Twitter account. Only because I need to follow a lot of people like you, which is very interesting. I actually get alerts on all you guys. But I never tweeted out anything except one picture. My boss and his wife and myself and my wife and three championship trophies. I think it’s out there. I think I put it down as soon as I put it up.”
This could be a long con, as Riley might be playing dumb. However, I’m inclined to believe Riley doesn’t have a burner account on Twitter. I mean, he doesn’t even have a smartphone. Riley is old-school and when he wants to call out his players, I’d wager he does it to their face. He doesn’t across like a coward or a leaker.
About Liam McGuire
Social +Staff writer for The Comeback & Awful Announcing. Liammcguirejournalism@gmail.com