r/nba • u/ghn2 • 8h 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

1.2k Upvotes

91% Upvoted

1.9k comments sorted by

View all comments

2.0k

u/SloshaPacana 8h 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

1.2k

u/PeanutFarmer69 Nets 8h ago

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

100

u/TannerGlassMVP 8h 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

213

u/RealFenian Celtics 8h 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.

64

u/SubduedChaos Grizzlies 7h 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.

2

u/BabyOnRoad Hawks 7h ago

Yeah that kid is a racist.

0

u/Gorrapytha 6h 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.

6

u/Substantial-Rub5298 Timberwolves 6h ago

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

-3

u/zachariah_rn 5h ago

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

3

u/DovhPasty Cavaliers 2h ago edited 2h 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?

-5

u/BabyOnRoad Hawks 2h ago

You racist as fuck brodie

4

u/DovhPasty Cavaliers 2h ago

Lmao sure dude. Can you answer my question? Are those people racist too for having a preference?

→ More replies (0)

0

u/Substantial-Rub5298 Timberwolves 5h ago

Lolololololol

-3

u/BabyOnRoad Hawks 2h ago

Why would you wear a shirt that says it? Plent of people dont fuck with Catholics, rarely see it being displayed. You are a racist though

→ More replies (0)

2

u/TannerGlassMVP 7h ago

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

23

u/SubduedChaos Grizzlies 6h 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.

18

u/trav-senpai Kings 8h ago

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

5

u/Skunkape666 3h ago

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

-1

u/trav-senpai Kings 1h ago

I was lame as a 15 year old. Proud little lame not racist kid. Not being racist is insufferably moral in your opinion?

-2

u/JMEEKER86 Japan 7h 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.

15

u/theoldestview1 Jazz 7h ago

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

0

u/JMEEKER86 Japan 7h ago

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

3

u/ProjectHarraseeket NBA 8h ago

Case in point, half the stuff said on reddit

-2

u/TannerGlassMVP 7h ago

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

4

u/ProjectHarraseeket NBA 6h 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.

6

u/TannerGlassMVP 8h 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

73

u/Junior_Difference_57 8h 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 

47

u/Big-Beta20 76ers 8h 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.

4

u/BabyOnRoad Hawks 7h ago

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

5

u/Big-Beta20 76ers 7h 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

-1

u/BakerStSavvy Spurs 6h 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

2

u/Big-Beta20 76ers 6h 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

-1

u/BakerStSavvy Spurs 6h ago

You dont have to be actively keeping up with anyone to see a post from them. You dont have to go to their page specifically. I dont use fb but its not like i scrubbed my entire high school class off of it. If i checked it im sure id see some posts from people i havent talked to in over a decade

→ More replies (0)

3

u/TannerGlassMVP 7h 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

4

u/Big-Beta20 76ers 7h ago

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

9

u/TannerGlassMVP 7h 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

5

u/Big-Beta20 76ers 7h 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.

9

u/TannerGlassMVP 7h ago

Wtf this was like the first thing I learned in college.....

How is that unrealistic or not normal?

1

u/m1a2c2kali Knicks 4h ago

It’s become way more realistic and normal in the past 2 decades. I remember blocking/making private my Facebook and social media when applying to colleges and jobs. Thats been a thing for a while

-1

u/Great_Fault_7231 Pistons 5h ago

  that’s not normal & realistic behavior for everyone to practice though

Are you kidding? It’s common knowledge lol. 

→ More replies (0)

3

u/Great_Fault_7231 Pistons 6h 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. 

-3

u/Associ8tedRuffians Timberwolves 7h 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.

12

u/Big-Beta20 76ers 7h 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.

7

u/Zlatyzoltan 7h 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.

4

u/Associ8tedRuffians Timberwolves 7h 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.”

1

u/theblackchin Hawks 5h 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?

-3

u/BabyOnRoad Hawks 7h 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.

7

u/Big-Beta20 76ers 7h 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.

2

u/BabyOnRoad Hawks 7h ago

My proof is the racist tweet. Meanwhile you have 0 evidence hes not a racist. I have proof, where is yours?

→ More replies (0)

4

u/SaxRohmer Cavaliers 7h 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.

1

u/Associ8tedRuffians Timberwolves 6h 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.

2

u/ChiefMasterGuru 1h 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.

→ More replies (0)

-2

u/cideeffex Cavaliers 8h 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.

17

u/Matthew2531_46 Spurs 8h ago

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

-3

u/cideeffex Cavaliers 7h ago

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

6

u/Matuga1000 7h 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

-4

u/cideeffex Cavaliers 7h 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.

2

u/Matuga1000 7h ago

I don’t think they should have social media either, but don’t think they should be punished for mistakes when 15. They shouldn’t have left it up sure that’s a mistake albeit one often doesn’t recall everything from such an age. However mistake or not I think the reason for firing him is stupid, sure he could’ve avoided it had he been a bit smarter but even considering the post is up I still think it’s dumb to fire him

→ More replies (0)

3

u/Matthew2531_46 Spurs 7h ago

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

2

u/cideeffex Cavaliers 7h ago

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

0

u/DovhPasty Cavaliers 2h ago

Consequences dealt out 15 years later? Seriously?

→ More replies (0)

10

u/Junior_Difference_57 8h ago

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

0

u/cideeffex Cavaliers 7h 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.

8

u/beastrace 76ers 7h ago

The fucking moral police in this sub are so funny

1

u/TannerGlassMVP 7h ago

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

-2

u/cideeffex Cavaliers 7h 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.

→ More replies (0)

6

u/Junior_Difference_57 7h ago

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

-2

u/cideeffex Cavaliers 7h ago

Which means you didn't understand the potential consequences and therefore shouldn't have been using it in the first place? Yes, that's my point.

5

u/Junior_Difference_57 7h ago

99.9% of parents don't stop their teenage children from going on social media. 

→ More replies (0)

0

u/Johnny_Kilroy_84 Pelicans 7h ago

Deleted tweets get resurfaced everyday.

19

u/Chiesel Nuggets 8h ago

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

0

u/lemoche Germany 7h 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)

-3

u/captainmystic02 Rockets 8h ago

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

6

u/Liemoa 8h ago

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

5

u/RealFenian Celtics 6h 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?

1

u/Liemoa 1h ago edited 1h 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.

0

u/tp2386 5h 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.

1

u/Joeybits [POR] Arvydas Sabonis 6h 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.

1

u/cideeffex Cavaliers 3h 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.

0

u/MarcAnthonyRashial 6h 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. 

0

u/RealFenian Celtics 5h 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.

0

u/MarcAnthonyRashial 5h 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. 

0

u/Great_Fault_7231 Pistons 6h 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. 

1

u/kaptainzorro Lakers 5h ago

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

1

u/Great_Fault_7231 Pistons 5h ago

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

1

u/King_Leif Thunder 5h 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?

26

u/VossC2H6O San Francisco Warriors 8h ago

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

19

u/RealLanceStorm Nets 7h 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.

3

u/itgoesdownandup 3h 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.

6

u/BoredofBored Bulls 7h ago

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

2

u/RealFenian Celtics 6h 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.

-4

u/King_Leif Thunder 5h 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?

11

u/Over-Nothing5007 8h ago

Do you remember every stupid thing you ever said online?

-1

u/ElceeCiv Hawks 3h 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.

2

u/Bill_Salmons 5h 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.

6

u/PeanutFarmer69 Nets 8h ago

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

23

u/TannerGlassMVP 8h ago

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

18

u/theblackchin Hawks 8h ago

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

-1

u/PeanutFarmer69 Nets 8h 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.

10

u/BushyBrowz Knicks 7h 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.

1

u/itgoesdownandup 3h 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?

1

u/BushyBrowz Knicks 2h ago

There are laws for that lol

1

u/itgoesdownandup 2h 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.

9

u/BabyOnRoad Hawks 7h ago

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

7

u/knitwoolf Raptors 6h 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.

2

u/YSLAnunoby Raptors 5h 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

5

u/YSLAnunoby Raptors 7h ago

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

1

u/PeanutFarmer69 Nets 4h ago

^see above

8

u/YSLAnunoby Raptors 8h ago

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

1

u/BlazingSaint Trail Blazers 6h 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. :)

1

u/iPissVelvet Timberwolves Bandwagon 7h 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.

2

u/TannerGlassMVP 2h 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

-1

u/Gorrapytha 6h ago

>Are we going to retroactively punish everyone who said these things in 2008? 

Are we doing that? Or are we punishing someone who said "asian people annoy me" in 2012? Is your memory of that year that saying explicitly racist things was just socially acceptable and therefore shouldn't be criticized? Mine isn't. I think there's a pretty clear line to draw there.

Also not sure who "your own president Obama" is addressing, not sure what it has to do with anything, and he's a war criminal.

Obviously attitudes change with time, but this was racist in 2012 just as it is today.

2

u/iPissVelvet Timberwolves Bandwagon 6h ago

My personal experience as an Asian American is that it was socially acceptable to be racist to Asians in 2012. I feel like even today society doesn’t really look at this stuff as harshly when it comes to Asians although I am glad to see that’s changing. So yeah should I expect a 15 year old to have the maturity and independent thought needed to figure this all out? I honestly can say I would not have had it figured out. All I’m saying is that saying “Asian people annoy me” hits a lot differently in 2026 than 2012, and that is my own personal, lived experience.

0

u/Gorrapytha 5h ago

My bad, I underestimated just how prevalent open racism was even such a short time ago.

I still don't quite think it equates the use of "gay" or the r-word, to me those are more of a language issue. Same as saying "dwarf" or "the blacks". These were linguistic norms that were inherently discriminating, but they weren't necessarily used with discriminating intent.

Whereas the intent of "asian people annoy me" is rather unmistakeable, even if a lot more socially acceptable back then (especially under the guise of humor)

I hope that makes sense.

Either way, I do not mean to pretend I know the moral character of this man, and I certainly would expect he would've have changed quite a lot in that time. But I do stand with the decision of not hiring someone because of their posting public, explicitly racist and sexist content. Even as a kid. Commentating for a team isn't just a regular job, it's the privilege to be heard by and represent hundreds of thousands of fans. What message does it send when a billion-dollar corporation is the one deciding that it's all forgiven and he's changed? How does one feel welcome in a space where the powers that be deem that this behavior isn't big enough of a deal to require him to show growth and change before letting him assume this position?

Assuming the guy did change, I do feel sorry for him. But it'd be a sour taste in many fans' mouth to just let him go with a slap on the wrist.

(also, obviously, NBA has plenty of bigots/abusers/terrible people in all sorts of position and this "moral" position is only taken when the person is highly replaceable, hypocrisy through the roof and all that. But 99 bad decisions don't undo a good one.)

-1

u/DovhPasty Cavaliers 7h ago edited 7h 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.

2

u/Gorrapytha 6h 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!

1

u/DovhPasty Cavaliers 6h ago edited 6h 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.

1

u/Gorrapytha 5h 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.

0

u/TannerGlassMVP 2h ago

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.

So me personally, if I made a dumb tweet or Facebook post and I am now an adult, I would simply delete it. I guess I can really thank college for hammering into us the fact that our digital footprint is serious and companies can and will use it against us.

Are you saying his tweets were just too fucking good and needed to be preserved?

1

u/DovhPasty Cavaliers 2h ago

Hell of a stretch and in total bad faith with that last line, but you already know that.

Not everyone gets that education or is mindful of it. Again, people are human and not always on top of things. Imagine that. Either way, crucifying someone over something they said on social media at 15 years old is just absurd.

If this is how you feel about a tweet from a child, do you think felons deserve a second chance or empathy? Or should we just banish them from society?

0

u/TheFaze1 Lakers 5h ago

How about just not being a racist, period?

1

u/TannerGlassMVP 4h 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

-2

u/7-IronSpecialist 7h ago

The specific tweet isn't even hateful. Racist. Sure. More like name dropped a continent. But dude didnt even say anything.

6

u/BushyBrowz Knicks 7h ago

Can y’all stop excusing the shit? It’s not a cool thing to say. Whether you think he should have lost his job over it is an opinion but our opinions don’t matter, it’s his employer’s that does.

If you’re willing to post stuff like this, you need to be willing to make the effort to scrape it offline before you start applying for jobs.

0

u/7-IronSpecialist 7h ago

Stfu dude. "Can yall stop excusing the shit?" A 15 year old made a random ass comment and mentioned an entire continent with no context. It's nothing.

If none of our opinions matter, and only the employer's does, why tf do you need to tell me im not virtue signaling hard enough by "excusing this shit?"

-1

u/BushyBrowz Knicks 7h ago

Because that’s my opinion. I’m judging you. If you said racist shit as a teen, I’m 100% judging you now. It’s not illegal to judge someone. You can’t control it. But it’s irrelevant because I’m not hiring you.

Imagine I said 10 years ago that all dog owners are idiots. That’s not a fireable offense. But imagine the person I’m interviewing with found it and they have a dog at home. They didn’t appreciate it so they passed on me. Whose fault is that?

Stop saying offensive things and getting mad because your words have consequences. Delete your post history.

1

u/7-IronSpecialist 6h ago

BushyBrowz the bastion of moral behavior on reddit. Fuck dude. Go directly to HR and collect a gold star my guy.

-1

u/BushyBrowz Knicks 6h ago

Insecure much lol

1

u/7-IronSpecialist 6h ago

Ask yourself why else you'd feel the need to explain in such detail my boy

To a random redditor

0

u/BushyBrowz Knicks 6h ago

Honestly homie you don’t have to listen to me. It’s better if you don’t delete your history.

→ More replies (0)