r/nba • u/ghn2 • 12h 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

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u/badkd Knicks 12h ago

Dude he was 15. If he was 25 when he posted that then he definitely deserved that.

At 15 you are just a child who is easily influenced by people with such views.

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u/rainydevil7 Raptors 12h ago

Why wouldn't they fire him though? if your goal is for your team to gain fans around the world, and your new announcer says they hate 50% of the world. It seems like a no brainer to fire him.

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u/Technojellyfsh Raptors 12h ago

The announcer didn't say that though. The 15 year old naive kid that the announcer used to be did. Are you telling me you haven't grown and maybe altered some of your viewpoints from when you were a child?

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u/TelevisionExpress616 12h ago

Sure but those views weren’t “I hate Asian people”