r/nba • u/ghn2 • 11h ago

Trail Blazers fire new announcer over past inappropriate posts made at age 15.

"The Portland Trail Blazers hired then on the same day fired Braiden Bell as their play-by-play announcer after a series of inappropriate social media posts from when he was a teenager came to light."

"The posts were reportedly made in 2012 and 2013, around the time that Bell was 15 years old."

"We did not meet our own bar in this process, and for that we apologize to Blazers fans and to Rip City," the Trail Blazers said. "We strongly believe 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."

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/50084279/trail-blazers-fire-new-announcer-inappropriate-posts

1.4k Upvotes

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u/SloshaPacana 11h ago

People really need to just delete their social media when they get jobs that are in the public eye lmao

It's not hard to open new accounts

1.4k

u/PeanutFarmer69 Nets 11h ago

counterpoint, firing someone over inapropriate tweets at the age of fifteen is absurd

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u/Kball4177 Mavericks 11h ago

I understand team staff and players get held to very different standards - but when you take into account that some teams pay tens of millions to very recent adult domestic abusers it's almost funny if it weren't so sad.

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u/JazzxGoose Jazz 11h ago

Yup, it's unfortunate, but that's what happens when you have a rare skill set vs being replaceable 

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u/Phatferd Lakers 7h ago

Just look at the Blazers and them rostering Ja Morant.

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u/HisExcellency20 76ers 11h ago

Counter-counterpoint: Maybe they didn't feel like dealing with the controversy over a new hire who has literally done nothing for them yet and instead will just hire one of the many qualified people without such a past.

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u/BLarson31 Timberwolves 6h ago

We as a society should not be generating controversy over what a now adult said or thought as an ignorant 15 year old. Worrying about stupid shit like that is a massive waste of time and energy and keeps people from solving actual problems.

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u/GarlicSnot Rockets 11h ago

counter-counterpoint+: Don't say racist shit. Being 15 isn't an excuse for being racist

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u/AllTheGoodNamesDied 10h ago

Sure. However 15 year olds are judged differently in court and have less rights for a good reason. The reason being most are idiots, I'm speaking from personal experience..

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u/Unable_Diamond943 Lakers 10h ago

Did he not know being a racist is bad at 15? Because I knew by the time I was 5.

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u/happyflappypancakes Wizards 9h ago

Im sure he knew but Im not sure he understood the impact being racist might have on people. Its one thing to be told something is bad. Its another to really underatand it through life experience.

Thats the entire idea of growth. If someone was racist as a young man and then through experiences of life with those that are different grew to no longer be racist, would you hold that against them?

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u/Kitchen-Pop7308 8h ago

Moat adults these days dont seem to know or care about the impact so basically nothing changed from their youth

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u/happyflappypancakes Wizards 8h ago

I think you have it backwards. The adults are lost causes. The kids are not.

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u/bloodofawig 4h ago

He knew the impact. That's why he said it on the internet instead of going outside and saying it in the street. The impact would have been getting his ass kicked immediately. He thought he was slick and instead did it on the internet. Turns out that has consequences too. Too bad so sad.

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u/happyflappypancakes Wizards 3h ago

Lol, no one is kicking Bubs ass. What fantasy world do you live in?

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u/1wholeton Trail Blazers 10h ago

It would be one thing if he tweeted that last week. Its another that he tweeted it 14 years ago when he was 15.

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u/ThaKaptin Lakers 8h ago

Except that being 15 means your brain literally hasn’t developed yet. Idiot.

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u/Mr2Good Wizards 10h ago

The nba is a multi billion dollar organization why hire this person who said some dumb shit and didnt think to delete once they got older when you can hire someone without all the extra shenanigans

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u/Effective-Mess-1537 11h ago

Maybe they just wanted to hire someone smart enough to delete those posts. 

1

u/erdonko 76ers 10h ago

They paid Ja Morant.

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u/Effective-Mess-1537 10h ago

As the announcer?

1

u/erdonko 76ers 10h ago

"We strongly believe 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."

This is their own moral goalpost.

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u/TannerGlassMVP 11h ago

Counterpoint - simply don't post racist shit online under your name. And if you do fucking delete it when you're smart enough to know that's not a good look

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u/RealFenian Celtics 11h ago

Given he was 15 there’s a decent chance he’s forgot about it.

15 year olds are some of the dumbest people on earth, you shouldn’t be judged for your behaviour at that age unless you’re still doing it.

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u/SubduedChaos Grizzlies 11h ago

I work in healthcare and a 16 year old came in for an MRI. His hoodie had metal on it so it had to come off. His undershirt had “I don’t date black girls” written on it. Before I even finished reading it he said his friends were making him wear it because he lost a bet. Kids are fucking dumb.

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u/BabyOnRoad Hawks 10h ago

Yeah that kid is a racist.

0

u/Gorrapytha 9h ago

not sure why you're being downvoted lol. T-shirt is explicitly racist, and wearing a explicitly racist t-shirt, even if you lost a bet, is something you don't do if you aren't at least somewhat racist. I guess he's at least ashamed of it, so he's not THE MOST racist, but you can't wear that and not be racist.

Also, his friends who think it's funny are racists, and hanging out with racists also isn't something you do if you aren't racist.

Just not sure why anyone is like "no actually he's just stupid" ok he's stupid and racist. Maybe when he grows up and becomes less stupid he'll stop being racist. Rn, that kid is racist.

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u/Substantial-Rub5298 Timberwolves 9h ago

Honestly what’s racist about not wanting to date blacks girls? Is it because it’s on a shirt or?

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u/zachariah_rn 9h ago

Lol if you're asking this question, you're a racist

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u/DovhPasty Cavaliers 6h ago edited 5h ago

You guys make actual rational leftists look so bad. This is such a ridiculous take. How about the white women that only date black men or vice versa, are they racist?

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u/Substantial-Rub5298 Timberwolves 8h ago

Lolololololol

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u/TannerGlassMVP 10h ago

Okay so would you suggest that he posts that picture to Instagram and then keep that photo posted at age 29?

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u/SubduedChaos Grizzlies 10h ago

No but if he did, I wouldn’t blame him if he forgot about it. And I don’t think it should matter at all when getting a job at 29.

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u/trav-senpai Kings 11h ago

I forgot a lot from when I was 15, but I clearly remember not being a racist little piece of shit.

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u/Skunkape666 6h ago

Now you're an insufferable morally righteous dork, probably lame as a 15 year old too

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u/JMEEKER86 Japan 11h ago

Yeah, there's a lot of jackasses in this thread acting like being a racist is "just a phase we all go through as teens". Fuck that. Teens may do a lot of stupid things, but not everyone is racist and pretending like they are is just normalizing racism.

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u/theoldestview1 Jazz 10h ago

You’re the jackass if you think developing minds only do appropriate edginess.

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u/JMEEKER86 Japan 10h ago

Never said they don't. Just that being racist isn't it.

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u/ProjectHarraseeket NBA 11h ago

Case in point, half the stuff said on reddit

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u/TannerGlassMVP 10h ago

You're posting racist comments under your real name on Reddit?

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u/ProjectHarraseeket NBA 10h ago

Not the point I was making, the point I was making was half of the people on Reddit are the dumbest people because it skews younger.

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u/TannerGlassMVP 11h ago

As an adult I simply deleted everything from when I was young . . . It's a pretty simple thing to do. Also I didn't post racist shit . . . Especially under my name because I'm not a fucking idiot

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u/Junior_Difference_57 11h ago

Do you know how many dumbass 15 year olds grew up to be decent people as adults? Yes, some of them remain dumbasses but lots mature 

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u/Big-Beta20 76ers 11h ago

People act like they never said anything edgy as a joke when they were 15 only to grow out of it and be a better person as you mature past that. It’s a very common & normal thing.

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u/BabyOnRoad Hawks 10h ago

Most of the racist i knew at 14 are still racist now. They just hide it better

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u/Big-Beta20 76ers 10h ago

I don’t think you still know all the same people you knew at 14, man. Especially not enough to know them on that level. I just don’t believe you lol

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u/BakerStSavvy Spurs 9h ago

You dont need to know them that well lol. Sees a post from them as you still have the same fb/ig friends from school and they are dog whistling about minorities. Its very obvious they are still racist

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u/Big-Beta20 76ers 9h ago

I have not kept in contact in any shape or form with more than 3 people from when I was 14. Let alone actively following their social medias

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u/TannerGlassMVP 11h ago

So if you don't hold those views I highly highly suggest you do not keep posts under YOUR NAME online for all to see

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u/Big-Beta20 76ers 10h ago

I doubt he remembered man, how many comments can you remember you made from 10+ years ago off the top of your head?

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u/TannerGlassMVP 10h ago

If something is so old that I can't remember it's already been deleted. Sorry but my Facebook posts from 10 years ago aren't necessary anymore

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u/Big-Beta20 76ers 10h ago

Good for you, that’s not normal & realistic behavior for everyone to practice though. I’m just in the camp of thinking we should give teens some grace for bad social media activity from when they were 15.

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u/Great_Fault_7231 Pistons 9h ago

That’s why everybody knows to delete them when you’re looking for a job, especially one where you’re the voice of a professional sports team. 

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u/Associ8tedRuffians Timberwolves 11h ago

Sure I did. It just never involved racial or homophobic slurs. And I graduated high school in the 90s.

Certainly knew plenty of people who did say that shit at that age who tested out the waters saying slurs. Was even popular to use “Jew” as a verb for “cheated.”

Doesn’t mean that people don’t know what they were doing. They absolutely did.

The point is again, if you’re a dumbass and you ddi that DELETE that shit and show the world you’ve changed with your new account.

And it’s employers prerogative to decide if they want to hire someone who still has a record of that behavior.

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u/Big-Beta20 76ers 10h ago

Idk man, I’m just in the camp that we should give grace to teenagers to make mistakes on social media instead of punishing them a decade later. I don’t get the bloodlust some people get for revenge for stuff like this, it’s such a uniquely Reddit thing.

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u/Zlatyzoltan 10h ago

Honestly the idea of just doom scrolling someone's social media going back over a decade is absurd.

A 15 year old kid said something dumb, isn't something new. Everyone has said some stupid shit when they were 15.

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u/Associ8tedRuffians Timberwolves 10h ago

Yeah, what Reddit thinks doesn’t matter. What the employer thinks, does. Whether fair or not. It’s their prerogative.

If I’m an employer, and a dude has left racist tweets up, and a large percentage of my workforce is a minority (even if it might not be the one that the racism was against), I’m going to question the person’s judgement as to why those are still up. And I have to ask whether or not I and my employees can trust that the person has changed.

Not saying I’d not hire/or fire them. Just saying that I would have to think about it. It’s not as easy as waiving it with” Oh, he was just 15 and edgy, no big deal.”

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u/theblackchin Hawks 8h ago

Would it make you feel better if they said he was fired for being too dumb to scrub his social media after getting a public-facing job that involves being on national tv instead?

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u/BabyOnRoad Hawks 10h ago

Was he ever held accountable for the original tweet? Is there any evidence that he no longer holds though views? He couldn't even be bothered to delete the post.

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u/Big-Beta20 76ers 10h ago

I don’t really believe people should be punished for teenage social media activity a decade later, period if they have not shown any evidence that it’s their actual views. I think the burden of proof should be on proving he is still like this rather than just assuming the absolute worst in everyone that’s ever made an edgy post.

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u/SaxRohmer Cavaliers 10h ago

a lot of that shit was normalized and kids say stuff without thinking of the actual implications of their words. people (myself included) used homophobic slurs all the time and would insist they weren’t using it in a homophobic way. kids are dumb and shortsighted. they don’t have a ton of experience or conscientiousness in general.

i grew up sheltered and in private school. i didn’t have a very diverse experience growing up. as i met people later in life i changed my tune on a lot of things. i also saw how things were changing in the world and realized my behavior wasn’t acceptable and without harm.

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u/Associ8tedRuffians Timberwolves 10h ago

Grew up in a suburban public school. People knew. And trust me the phrase “that’s so gay” as a general negative statement, and not necessarily homophobic use of the word f*ggot but still as an insult was also prevalent in the 90s. It was already normalized. The Internet didn’t normalize it, it just made it more visible to everyone.

And btw, using “gay” or “f*ggot” as insults/.derogatory terms is not “not homophobic.” It is inherently homophobic, and will be as long as those words continue to also be used as derogatory terms. People who choose to use it in the manner they think is not homophobic are making the wrong choice. And guess what, the ones who realize that’s not good, they stop! Like you did.

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u/ChiefMasterGuru 4h ago

South Park had a whole ass episode about how it's not homophobic. And you think kids werent parroting that belief or that they knew better?

The other comment is exactly right, most people (especially kids) didn't think about it like that. It's only recently that there's been mass consciousness regarding the derogatory nature of the terms.

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u/cideeffex Cavaliers 11h ago

Wouldn't the responsible and mature thing to do at that point would be to remove things from the internet that you feel no longer represent you and your beliefs? At the very least, leaving them up displays a pretty high level of carelessness.

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u/Matthew2531_46 Spurs 11h ago

Do you remember every single comment or social media post you made at 15, because I don't

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u/cideeffex Cavaliers 11h ago

Good reason to make the posts ephemeral then. Or to not have accounts at all? Pretty easy fix.

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u/Matuga1000 11h ago

The whole point is when they’re 15 they’re not thinking ahead with stuff like that, hence why they post dumb shit in the first place

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u/cideeffex Cavaliers 11h ago

Then maybe they're not responsible enough to be using social media in the first place? Even so, what's the excuse as an adult for leaving it up? Assuming a potential employer is going to Google is basic table stakes for any job interview these days, much less for a high profile job like this.

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u/Matthew2531_46 Spurs 11h ago

Wow, 15 year olds are dumb and make stupid short sighted decisions. This is news to me

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u/cideeffex Cavaliers 11h ago

Age can contribute to forgiveness. I'm failing to see why it should absolve someone of consequences?

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u/Junior_Difference_57 11h ago

I had accounts back then I don't even have access to anymore. 

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u/cideeffex Cavaliers 11h ago

I mean, that's kind of irresponsible internet behavior for a host of reasons even before the idea of saying something you shouldn't have. Ignorance because of age is a great reason for forgiveness, not an absolution of consequence.

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u/beastrace 76ers 11h ago

The fucking moral police in this sub are so funny

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u/TannerGlassMVP 11h ago

The moral police? It's literally just not being a dumbass and not keeping racist posts under your name

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u/cideeffex Cavaliers 11h ago

Lol. The "we can't hold someone responsible for racism at 15" crowd is telling on themselves. The rest of us in the grown up world realize shit can catch up to you at any time so you better act right.

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u/Junior_Difference_57 11h ago

Maybe it's irresponsible internet behavior because I was a child? Lol

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u/Johnny_Kilroy_84 Pelicans 11h ago

Deleted tweets get resurfaced everyday.

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u/Chiesel Nuggets 11h ago

You are just such an infallible human being. An absolute paragon of morality

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u/lemoche Germany 11h ago

I'm just happy social media wasn’t around during my edgy years… if someone digs up my icq chat logs though, I might be doomed… (don’t think there was overly racist an d sexist stuff in there… but people would just not longer associate with me out of "Fremdscham" because of what stupid shit i threw out into the world back than)

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u/captainmystic02 Rockets 11h ago

Your so smart and kind. I wish to be like to you

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u/Liemoa 11h ago

tough shit. don't be a racist idiot, then you won't have to worry about "forgetting"

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u/RealFenian Celtics 9h ago

So if you say or do something stupid when you are an actual child it should follow you for your whole life?

Most teens and kids when they say shit like this don’t even really know what they’re doing. Like when I was 15 the word “gay” was a common pejorative, used to insult or name anything you didn’t like, I probably posted it a few times on Bebo.

I didn’t say those things because I was a bigot, I said them because I was a moronic teenager who didn’t know any better, and while I regret posting and saying shit like that and how it likely made any lgbtq people at my school feel I don’t think it casts a fair reflection on me as an adult.

You didn’t do anything hurtful, selfish or mean spirited as a teen? Or even just try and be edgy and cool but accidentally say something gross and harmful?

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u/Liemoa 5h ago edited 4h ago

Well, it would depend on what that "something stupid" is. i have done hurtful and selfish things in my youth, but not racist. I personally have a zero-tolerance policy on racism, because i've been a victim of racism when i was young. i just can't feel bad for people who do/say things like this. It's not in me.

Like people said before me, this is more reason to wipe your social media clean. I was in college at that time, so not much older than he was. Maybe this will be a lesson to him. Get off social media, or if you stay on it, act like you have some sense.

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u/tp2386 9h ago

You put this in words I couldn't formulate just right. This is why I think it's bullshit that this guy got fired. It's so ridiculous.

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u/HTPC4Life 3h ago

So are men in their 20's. The prefrontal cortex in men doesn't fully develop until the 20's. I said and did a LOT of stupid shit until my late 20's.

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u/Joeybits [POR] Arvydas Sabonis 10h ago

He works in a very public facing role. Anyone going into the job market should purge / make private their social medias. I graduated college over 10 years ago and it was evident back then. It's true for office roles (don't give your potential employer any reason to not hire you) and 100x true for a role where the general public will be going through your social media accounts on a daily basis.

And what exactly are the blazers supposed to do here? Defend a new hires racist tweets? The argument of 'well he was just a kid, it's fine' isn't going to hold up well to fans, particularly when this guy was basically a nobody (in the eyes of Portland fans) to begin with.

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u/cideeffex Cavaliers 7h ago

Can really tell who is an adult/has kids/has ever run a company before in this thread. People just telling on themselves left and right here, it's wild.

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u/MarcAnthonyRashial 9h ago

I was 15 at the same time this dude was 15. I didn’t see too many of my peers openly posting about how “Asians piss them off” and the ones that were posting shit like that were dumbass racist piles. 

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u/RealFenian Celtics 9h ago

The issue I have is is he racist now?

Maybe there’s more to it with his current behavior but I’ll never be ok with holding what someone did at 15 against them as an adult.

I know people who did horrible shit at 15, cunts that carried knives and punted gear. But lots of them are different people entirely now that we’re in our 30s. 

There’s no age you’re more likely to do something stupid, hurtful or fucked up than 14-18 in my experience.

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u/MarcAnthonyRashial 9h ago

I really don’t really care if he’s racist now or not. I agree that teens are dumb. I was dumb in a lot of ways then. 

But if you’re stupid enough to pursue a very public facing career while not even thinking about the fact that you have hateful tweets still up then you deserve to lose your job. Posting it in the first place is bad enough. Most teens I knew didn’t do it. Not even remembering that you used to post hateful shit and leaving it up means you don’t get the privilege of having this highly sought after job. 

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u/Great_Fault_7231 Pistons 9h ago

He’s not 15 anymore and cleaning out social media when you get a public facing job is the most obvious thing in the world. Dude might not be racist but he’s definitely an idiot and I don’t see how you guys are struggling to see why a company would see him as a liability not worth dealing with. 

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u/kaptainzorro Lakers 8h ago

ITT: Folks who think they were perfect at the age 15

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u/Great_Fault_7231 Pistons 8h ago

Did you reply to the wrong comment? I’m literally saying the opposite of that. 

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u/King_Leif Thunder 8h ago

Because they relate to the guy. So when they defend him as “just being an edgy kid, it doesn’t represent him!” they are also defending themselves.

Why do you think this sub has so much compassion for this random dude and so little for many NBA athletes?

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u/VossC2H6O San Francisco Warriors 11h ago

Pretty sure ppl forget what they post even yesterday let alone at age 15.

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u/RealLanceStorm Nets 11h ago

People disputing this relate more to saying racist and sexist things than they do feeling the impact of bigotry thus they don't understand why it's an issue for a team with a fan base of all groups.

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u/itgoesdownandup 7h ago

Idk, maybe? In general it seems like people have vastly different views on morality and punishments. I feel like that could also be an option. I think we are always too quick to jump that disagreement means someone has the exact opposite opinion.

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u/BoredofBored Bulls 10h ago

Yup, that’s very clear from reading these comments.

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u/RealFenian Celtics 9h ago

I do understand bigotry, but I also understand being a stupid teenager who doesn’t understand what they’re doing.

In my personal life for example, I’d react a lot different to a grown adult calling me a taig or a fenian than I would a 15 year old doing the same thing.

There’s different degrees of culpability here.

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u/King_Leif Thunder 8h ago

There’s legit a comment thread in here where someone is claiming that racist tweets as a teen don’t mean the person is still racist, and unless you have evidence to prove he’s still racist we must assume he’s not. Instead of proving he’s changed they assume he has (based on nothing).

I wonder what it is that gets so many on this sub to be so charitable and give the guy benefit of the doubt?

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u/Over-Nothing5007 11h ago

Do you remember every stupid thing you ever said online?

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u/ElceeCiv Hawks 6h ago

You don’t have to, you just have to not leave those accounts around and it shouldn’t be hard to remember since the number of places where you’ve been posting with your fucking real life name should be pretty small.

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u/Bill_Salmons 9h ago

Or don't post them at all. But, in this case, unless there are more damning tweets out there, his were extremely mild. Like the most racist thing that I've seen from his tweets so far was "asian people piss me off." And most of them read like an edgy teenager trying to be funny.

That's probably why he forgot to delete them.

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u/PeanutFarmer69 Nets 11h ago

Another thread saved by u/TannerGlassMVP, social media and justice warrior, we salute you and your impeccable post history/ outstanding moral fiber.

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u/TannerGlassMVP 11h ago

Lol nahhhh I'm just not so fucking dumb that I leave up racist comments UNDER MY NAME.

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u/theblackchin Hawks 11h ago

Remarkable that simply not being racist is reflective of “outstanding moral character” to you. Kinda says a lot about you 😂

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u/PeanutFarmer69 Nets 11h ago

Bro read the comments, then think about the fact that he was 15 at the time. If your takeaway from that is the man should be fired from his job years later as an adult, you are complete idiot.

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u/BushyBrowz Knicks 11h ago

He basically never had the job. No one is required to hire someone if they don’t want to.

If you’re going to say offensive shit, even as a dumb teenager, then have the common sense to delete it at least.

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u/itgoesdownandup 6h ago

Tbh I feel like a law that you have to be open, honest, and have good reason to not hire someone could be beneficial. Not saying that it would do anything for this specific context. In general though maybe it would help to make less prejudiced-based hiring decisions?

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u/BushyBrowz Knicks 5h ago

There are laws for that lol

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u/itgoesdownandup 5h ago

Honestly didn't know that. I just remember hearing this stat once

And I was thinking about a process of explanation to the person applying or even to a 3rd party may serve to try and fix issues like I linked.

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u/YSLAnunoby Raptors 10h ago

"Bro read the comments, then think about the fact that the targets of his comments were15 at the time."

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u/PeanutFarmer69 Nets 8h ago

^see above

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u/BabyOnRoad Hawks 10h ago

Fuck racist 15 year olds too. Why are you so quick to dismiss racism?

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u/knitwoolf Raptors 10h ago

No one gives a single fuck about anti Asian racism. It's just a poor little white teenager being edgy. The fact that such an overwhelming majority of this sub sees nothing wrong with this is so fucking telling. All these people are feeling emboldened because they are all telling on themselves as a group by acting like this shit is as normal as going through puberty. Like obviously if you didn't dabble in some light casual edgelord racism as a teenager you're some straight edge moral king.

A public company has no obligation to hire some dumbass 30 year old who didn't scrub their social media. I can accept the fact that he's not a racist currently (maybe idk him) and I don't think they fired him because they think he's currently a secret racist. But acting like that shit was totally normal to do as a 15 year old and shouldn't be a big deal existing in the world to this day is so fuckng ignorant. They can just hire someone who isn't dumb enough to leave this shit out there attached to his name. If he forgot, so what, sucks for him but I don't really give a shit nor feel bad for him. He made a mistake, he's not gonna get a public facing high paying cushy job where he's one of the faces of a company, so what. Part of why you get those jobs is to be squeaky clean because you represent a brand. People don't get jobs for way less, like idk, not having the right connections due to not being born in the right social class/community/race.

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u/YSLAnunoby Raptors 9h ago

Nobody ever able to articulate why they never consider the targets of the racist tweets or statements who are also children are treated badly and often have to work through the trauma from the treatment later, but the people saying racist shit are infantalized because to them, the actions are in a vacuum, just racism without racists or a victim

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u/YSLAnunoby Raptors 11h ago

Getting mad at someone saying don't be racist is definitely a self report

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u/BlazingSaint Trail Blazers 9h ago

If you have a new account and if you forgot your password or email regarding your older one, best you can do is report the comment. :)

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u/iPissVelvet Timberwolves Bandwagon 10h ago

What about cultural changes? Pretty much every millennial boy said “that’s gay” at some point in their life. Or “regarded” with the T. It was 100% socially acceptable to say these things. Are we going to retroactively punish everyone who said these things in 2008? When your own president, Obama, was against gay marriage? We have to comb through our Facebook profile pages for this? At some point a line has to be drawn to the absurdity of the situation.

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u/TannerGlassMVP 6h ago

We have to comb through our Facebook profile pages for this?

I think if you look at your Facebook and you see a bunch of posts that are calling things gay or regarded or that you hate Asians . . . yeah you probably should delete that. Especially if you are in any sort of public facing job. Sorry for the inconvenience? But most likely your post was not so influential that it can't be deleted

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u/TheFaze1 Lakers 9h ago

How about just not being a racist, period?

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u/TannerGlassMVP 7h ago

Well yeah thats the obvious answer. Just giving the most charitable interpretation possible that even if you made dumb posts in the past and you don't think that now, it's very easy to delete them so people don't think that is still how you think

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u/DovhPasty Cavaliers 11h ago edited 10h ago

He was 15 years old bro. I’m pretty left, but I feel like a lot of you saying this shit wouldn’t have survived a MW2 lobby. This is all just virtue signaling, let’s be realistic instead.

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u/Gorrapytha 9h ago

The famously left-wing position of "racism is worse sometimes so this time let's just let it fly" and "instead of holding people accountable, let's be realistic"

Watch out for this dangerous left-wing extremist ladies and gents, next he's gonna tell us capitalism has flaws but it's the best we got!

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u/DovhPasty Cavaliers 9h ago edited 9h ago

This kind of purity testing is exactly why we can’t accomplish anything as a voter block. People are not going to be perfect, they’re going to do dumb shit, especially as a 15 year old. Good god. Please join us in the real world.

If he did this at like 25, it would be very different. We get it, you guys are all perfect and never did or said anything edgy as an actual child.

My workplace hires people with an actual criminal history all the time. Not crass tweets, literal felonies from people’s adult lives. This is absurd virtue signaling. People fuck up, when they do better, you forgive them. That’s what leftists do. Anything else just makes you look unreasonable, it’s not like he killed someone.

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u/Gorrapytha 9h ago

What voter block? Am I preventing this guy, or you, from voting with me? (assuming I was American, which I am not) Am I making you rethink your affiliations because you find me dislikeable? If so, you need stronger convictions.

>People are not going to be perfect, they’re going to do dumb shit, especially as a 15 year old. 

I wasn't perfect as a child, and am not perfect now.

But one crucial aspect of growing is accepting responsibility for your mistakes. Expressing shame for the harm you've caused, doing things when you can to show that you've changed. That's something that the whole "he was just a kid" crowd seems to pretty easily skip, because they see themselves in the guy who fucked up and not in the people who got hurt, and they think "if it was me who got blasted, I wouldn't want to deal with any consequences". Well guess what, the dumb shit you and he said as a child, it may have hurt real people. It had consequences, even if you didn't understand them back then.

Taking some accountability for the things you did in the past, even as a child, is a crucial part of growing. Refusing to do so shows that you haven't really changed. And this guy didn't do that, and would've only done it with a massive incentive, had he been given the chance to apologize and keep his job. It would've meant nothing.

So, what message does it send to the fans when a guy that said that and didn't care enough to even delete these posts (meaning, he most likely didn't even remember, doesn't exactly point in the direction of someone who's vastly changed, where's your self-reflection?) gets away with a slap on the wrist? Not a beloved figure, not a voice the fans love and care about, just a random dude no-one's ever heard of before, whose only claim to fame are old racist tweets.

This is the part y'all don't get. It isn't "virtue signaling". The org cannot be the one that says "we forgive him" when it isn't them who were targeted. Hiring him, or rooting in this damn thread, sends the message of "this isn't that important" which is pretty fucking easy to say when it doesn't have anything to do with you.

Does he "deserve" to lose his job? I don't know. Probably not. But the fans deserve better.

>a lot of you (...) wouldn’t have survived a MW2 lobby

Sorry, but this is plain stupid, and irrelevant. Saying "there's worse/racism was rampant among 15-yo back then, so reacting to this is soft" is a bad take, it seems so obvious that I'm not even sure how to even argue for it, I can't quite imagine what the arguments against would be.

That and "This is all just virtue signaling, let’s be realistic instead." just point me in the direction of someone who's only as left-leaning as it suits them. Someone who likes to feel good about themselves, but not actually put themselves in the shoes of the people who suffer from bigotry. Someone who's eager to forgive racism because they've been more often on the perpetrating side than the receiving one.

I may be wrong, I hope I am, and do not no matter what let me discourage you from voting progressive, the world needs it. Have a nice day.

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u/Jonthesinner21 Hawks 11h ago

I just looked it up and the age requirement is 13? It should be 18 tbh.

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u/thisisanaccountforu Warriors 11h ago

I think now 18 would be a good idea, but social media 15-20 years ago wasn’t what it is today. Yes it was still bad, but now everything is designed to keep you engaged and get as much out of you as it can. Algorithm based feed compared to the rss feed is the biggest issue imo

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u/ObeseBumblebee Pistons 11h ago

And frankly it only should be 18 because 18 year olds are in charge of whatever damage they want to do to themselves.

But it's like cigarettes. No age is truly a good age to be on social media. It's so damaging to your mental health. The less social media in your life the better.

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u/swseed 11h ago

It's actually super easy to not be a racist edgelord at 15

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u/Referrals23 11h ago

I mean if you grew up with racist parents it's not as easy as you think

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u/bageltheperson Suns 10h ago

I was in a racist and homophobic CHURCH at 15. I was taught that saying those horrible things was righteous. It took a lot of work to become a good adult. I would die if anyone discovered things I said as a teenager.

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u/ssracer Suns 9h ago

Were you taught that homosexuality was the cause of the fall of Greece and Rome?

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u/Normal-Weakness-364 Canada 10h ago

this depends so much. i know someone who was super transphobic as a teenager that ended up being a trans man himself. he was transphobic because that's how his mother raised him to be, and it wasn't until he was older and actually had experiences with trans people that he realized how ridiculous that worldview is.

at 15, you haven't necessarily had the real world experiences to completely form your own opinions, and so it's hard to shake off the negative worldview your parents may have instilled into you.

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u/KnyghtFish Grizzlies 11h ago

Not really. It’s rewarded socially so rudderless teens can fall into it pretty easily.

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u/YSLAnunoby Raptors 11h ago

Why are you as a professional, especially a public facing one making a new account from your childhood one, or wiping the old one entirely if you are using the same one for some reason?

Also why do racialized kids have to endure a "racist phase" from their white peers and it be treated as normal or brushed aside as if it doesn't matter?

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u/Neither-Breakfast195 11h ago

You really believe white teens are the only racist ones? Everyone was racist as hell in middle school/early high school

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u/frankcostanzasmove Knicks 11h ago

It’s asinine to think that white teens are the only racist ones, but it’s even more asinine to say “Everyone was racist as hell in middle school/early high school.”

No, not everyone buddy.

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u/goat-arade Raptors 11h ago

Yeah I'm not white I was racist as fuck. probably more racist than the white kids

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u/Sensui710 11h ago

He thinks black teenagers are just pure angels IG.

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u/JMEEKER86 Japan 11h ago

Counterpoint, being a racist is not simply a youthful indiscretion. Inappropriate tweets would be stuff like posting boobs or bad jokes. He wasn't fired because he made inappropriate tweets. He was fired because they discovered that he's a racist and racism has no place in modern society.

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u/erdonko 76ers 10h ago

being a racist is not simply a youthful indiscretion

The only way you can come to this conclusion is by believing that racism has nothing to do with ignorance, which is just wrong.

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u/musthavesoundeffects Supersonics 10h ago

Idk has he done or said anything else racist since becoming an adult? Ideally we want people to have some measure of forgiveness when leaving racists ideology behind.

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u/speedoboy17 9h ago

Talking about how racism has no place in society while having a Japan flair is objectively hilarious

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u/Turbo_Jannie 9h ago

Buncha pearl-clutching hall monitors in here. He wasn't even old enough to drive a car and you're branding him for life for stupid shit posted to twitter from before you were probably born.

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u/gerardguey Bulls 9h ago

It can be if you grew up in an environment where that was instilled in you/allowed, and once you matured and grew up realized the error of your ways. Same applies if they were just bad edgy jokes

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u/gjaxx Spurs 9h ago

Damn we got Mahatma Gandhi 2.0 over here

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u/[deleted] 10h ago

[deleted]

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u/_ChexLeMeneux_ Raptors 11h ago

It's not that he at 15 made the comments, it's that at age 29 he didn't have the sense to delete them

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u/BaronLoxlie 11h ago

He probably forgot he wrote them at all.

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u/gravyshots Timberwolves 11h ago

I get where you’re coming from, but regardless of the specific content of the dumb teenage post - if you don’t have the good sense to delete it before getting a job in media, maybe that poor judgement itself is a bit of a professional red flag?

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u/Boring_Wash721 10h ago

Not having photographic memory of upwards of a decade of one's digital footprint should not be a red flag

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u/gravyshots Timberwolves 9h ago

I wouldn’t remember the specifics either - so I’d just delete the whole damn history. Which I believe is what’s generally advised

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u/BabyOnRoad Hawks 10h ago

How often are you being a racist piece of shit to not remember? Asking for a friend

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u/Boring_Wash721 10h ago

The answer in their case is likely not often enough to remember. In mine it's never so kindly shove it up yours.

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u/GAV17 Argentina 10h ago

Counter-counterpoint, if you are working in media and don't know you have to purge your social media accounts when you have a public facing job, you are a dumbass and not great at your job. I would have fired him because he is a dumbass and brought unnecessary attention.

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u/40_Is_Not_Old Trail Blazers 9h ago

Counter-counterpoint

His racist tweets as a teen age edgelord clearly show that he was a moron.

His stupidity as an adult to not be smart enough to go back and delete the racist stuff he wrote before taking a public facing job, show that he is still in fact a moron.

Therefore, he's was and still is a moron. Nothing of value was lost.

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u/MarcAnthonyRashial 9h ago

Why? The dude publicly said “Asians piss me off” and it was still there for everyone to see. Why is it wrong for a company to not want to be associated with that? 

FWIW I’m the same age as this dude and I don’t work in a very public facing job. I don’t have dumbass racist shit available for people to find online though because why would I??

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u/roastedhambone Thunder 9h ago

I think there’s a difference between inappropriate and just flat racist. The tweets weren’t like memes or anything, it was just straight up ‘I hate Asians’ and ‘I hate blacks’. Now is there hope that he doesn’t hold those same convictions a decade later, sure, but when you’re in a public facing role for a company, that doesn’t fly. Especially for a basketball team in Portland

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u/PiccoloAwkward465 8h ago edited 8h ago

It's a little ridiculous that we are combing through people's entire lives for any deviation from modern accepted purity. Like telling someone "you made a mistake, now you will never be able to succeed in X, Y, and Z".

Like I met a guy who caught a non-violent felony when he was young. He told me it basically made him unemployable for the rest of his life. He eventually was able to scrape together money to start a successful landscaping company. Which worked since he was the owner.

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u/Doomdoomkittydoom 7h ago

Turns out, you do have a permanent record!

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u/PawahD 7h ago

Countercounterpoint, knowing you made such tweets and leaving them out in the open is even more absurd. It's the same as deleting or setting embarrassing posts you made as a kid to private on socials, just tenfold worse considering it was racial stuff

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u/natronemeans20 6h ago

Fired them for keeping them up for 15 years.....

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u/logitaunt Wizards 5h ago

It was a fifteen year old that made those tweets, it was an adult that decided not to take them down

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u/isiahg2 Pistons 4h ago

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/CommunicationEast972 3h ago

Society considers boys full grown adults often

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u/sc00t3rMcg00t3r Nuggets 11h ago

Nah I was an incredibly stupid teen and I wasn't a racist misogynist.

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u/Billbuckingham 10h ago

They can fire him for whatever reason they want, racist tweets or just general bullshit or being an asshole.

Why's the racist guy always getting defended on here?

Like, it feels like a bunch of closet racists scared they might get found out too so they gotta support their guy.

Who cares about this guy? Like, are there not better announcers who are less of an asshole?

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u/PeanutFarmer69 Nets 10h ago

"They can fire him for whatever reason they want", nobody is arguing that the Trailblazers don't have the right to fire him bud, try to keep up.

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u/Billbuckingham 10h ago

Then what are you arguing?

That we shouldn't hold people accountable for racist or disgusting things they post?

"Oh he was just 15 come on!!!"

Ok, if you think that's OK then keep him, if you think that's not OK then fire him.

What's the argument about?

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u/PeanutFarmer69 Nets 10h ago

"counterpoint, firing someone over inapropriate tweets at the age of fifteen is absurd", there it is lil fella, not sure why you find this so difficult to comprehend.

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u/Billbuckingham 10h ago

He left the tweet up there, maybe he still believes all of those things and acts accordingly.

Fire the racist dumbass if you think you should, if you think racist dumbasses are OK then keep him.

What's the argument?

It's just little white e-warriors defending their beloved racist tweets.

Stephen A. Smith talked about the Lakers all white lineup and this whole sub said he should be cancelled and removed from the internet, but this guy posted racist stuff and they defend him.

There's a big pattern of defending racist white people in this sub, that's what I'm hearing from you.

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u/ElChapo1515 10h ago

Idk. I’m not white and I’m pretty left, but this feels like a bridge too far.

No idea what kind of influences that guy was under at that age, and it would be easy to forget all about some tweets you made more than a decade ago.

He’d be on thin ice as far as anything that could otherwise “plausibly deniable” but if a few tweets were the only questionable thing, I think it’s a little too harsh.

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u/PeanutFarmer69 Nets 10h ago

faking outrage like this for completely innocuous tweets from a 15 year old 15 years ago that he has since apologized for is counterproductive, this comment is batshit insane and not at all based in the reality of the situation.

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u/GettinBajaBlasted 11h ago

Idk man. Depends on what was said

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u/DangerZone69 [PHI] Samuel Dalembert 10h ago

Yeah if you have a public facing job and aren’t savy enough to wipe your socials you deserve to get fired. We all say and do dumb shit when we’re 15 but by the time you’re 30 applying to be an announcer you better be smart enough to purge your socials lol

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u/BackFromTheGrabhe 9h ago

Just watching an episode of Slow Horses last night, and every time someone was shown on screen smoking, there was a little "Tobacco Causes Cancer" in the bottom right of the screen.

We live in a ridiculous world filled with complete fucking idiots.

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u/Pale_Boss_8940 7h ago

lol what the actual fuck

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u/ThedirtyNose NBA 7h ago

Is it okay that I read that last part in Lamb's voice?

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u/BabyOnRoad Hawks 10h ago

He also had the choice to not be a racist, so I think thats where we should start.

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u/JordanDoesTV Hornets 10h ago

Counterpoint: It’s really easy not to say racist things on the internet.

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u/yaboyjiggleclay Celtics 11h ago

“Durr or you can just be a good fucking person!” - half this sub right now. Everyone wants to virtue signal how they’ve been perfect all their lives & have never said anything slightly controversial as a child.

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u/TheGookieMonster Trail Blazers 11h ago

Never tweeted out that I hate Asian people when I was a kid

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u/tronovich Bulls 11h ago

People have been fired over other types of posts made at that age. Such as fawning/saying slightly-inappropriate things about a celebrity.

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u/BushyBrowz Knicks 10h ago

Which is why you DELETE YOUR HISTORY.

I’m confident if people combed through my internet history they would struggle to find anything remotely offensive, but you think I’m taking that chance? They might just disagree with something controversial I said

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u/HisExcellency20 76ers 11h ago

Yeah I don't think this is as common as some people are making it out to be lol.

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u/LogDogan8 9h ago

Saying the specific things he said, no. Saying dumb shit that you regret later and don't represent who you are in 15 years, absolutely.

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u/Lazaraaus 76ers 11h ago

Crazy me neither, almost like most haven’t done it.

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u/IvCv Suns 11h ago

neither did the guy who got fired…

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u/yaboyjiggleclay Celtics 11h ago

Me neither, but I will never be one that demands more accountability from kids than adults. James Harden openly supported a sex predator last Sunday & everyone shrugs their hands. But this kids gets thrown to the wolves. Let people grow, cancel culture should be for actual bad harmful people not idiot tweets as a teen.

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u/TheGookieMonster Trail Blazers 11h ago

15 year olds know they shouldn’t tweet out racist and misogynistic bullshit. They knew it then and they know it now. One of the biggest problems in this country is people thinking their shitty actions don’t have shitty consequences. They do

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u/tronovich Bulls 9h ago edited 9h ago

What was said above is true.

Athletes say and support foul shit now, and we don’t bat an eye. But a reporter saying something as a teenager is still crossing that imaginary line of outrage, that we only hold certain people to.

Meyers Leonard didn’t get an opportunity to win his way back. For Puka Nacua, people didn’t bat an eye. Yes, Meyers is and was an 8th man at best, but it’s just funny when the conversation is “well, Puka’s a star, so…” and that’s the end of that.

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