NBA’s Portland Trail Blazers hire announcer, then fire him hours later over tweets from his teenage years
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The Portland Trail Blazers fired 29-year-old Braiden Bell on Thursday, just hours after naming him their lead TV announcer, over decade-old social media posts he made when he was a teenager.
Bell, who over from the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury to replace veteran Kevin Calabro as the youngest primary broadcaster in the NBA, was out of a job before he even put on a headset.
The firing came after local station KGW unearthed tweets from Bell’s account written between 2012 and 2014. In a December 2012 post, a 15-year-old Bell wrote, “I’m not racist at all.. But not gonna lie.. Asian people piss me off! Hahaha #Honest.”
An overhead close-up view of the NBA Cup logo painted on the court during a game between the Sacramento Kings and Portland Trail Blazers at the Moda Center in Portland, Ore., on Nov. 29, 2024. (Getty Images)
In July 2013, he added, “no blacks either. #racist.” He also appeared to make disparaging remarks about women in some posts.
The Trail Blazers didn’t hesitate as they essentially hired Bell, announced him and fired him hours later.
Panicking in real time, Blazers executives skipped administrative leave and terminated Bell that evening with an official statement:
“The Portland Trail Blazers have zero tolerance for racist, sexist, or harmful comments. Social media posts made by our recently announced play-by-play broadcaster are in clear violation of team and league policies, as well as our values and expectations. Therefore, we will not be moving forward with this broadcaster.
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“The play-by-play role carries a long legacy of excellence, on the broadcast and in character, and we hold that standard without exception. We did not meet our own bar in this process, and for that we apologize to Blazers fans and to Rip City. We believe strongly that everyone who is a part of Rip City should feel welcome and safe and we will make sure that our new broadcaster reflects these values. We will do better.”
Damian Lillard of the Milwaukee Bucks dribbles on the Portland Trail Blazers center court logo during the third quarter against the Trail Blazers at Moda Center on Jan. 31, 2024, in Portland, Ore. (Getty Images)
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Some critics on social media were quick to call out the Blazers’ panic and surrender to online outrage over 10th-grade tweets.
“This guy’s career may have just been ruined. Before he even graduated high school. Did he post something stupid as a stupid kid? Or do we really believe those posts as a child reflect who he is as an adult? Do ppl even care or do we just want blood? Is this really what we want?”
Another user accused the team of “virtue signaling by the franchise to hang this over his head and destroy his career over it.”
The Trailblazers did not immediately respond to OutKick’s request for comment.
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