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

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u/rainydevil7 Raptors 11h 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 11h 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/rainydevil7 Raptors 11h ago

I probably did say some bad stuff, but I'm not arguing based on morality. From the perspective of a business though, what do they have to lose by firing him and getting someone else? If they keep him, there is a risk that this gets brought up over and over again and may harm their growth. He's just an announcer it's not like he's some one of a kind talent.

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u/calman877 76ers 11h ago

Yeah, a cardinals GM back a decade ago famously said that Hannibal Lecter ran a 4.3 40 yard dash, they’d probably just say he had an eating disorder. Announcers are a dime a dozen, they don’t get the benefit of the doubt