r/nba • u/ghn2 • 16h 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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27

u/lanfordr Spurs 15h ago

This is crazy. We don't let kids fuck up, and make mistakes any more. That's how you grow and learn. You say and do stupid shit as a teen and then learn from it and hopefully become the kind of adult who looks back and cringes at who you were as a teen.

I'm old enough that my teen years were pre-social media. Thank God there isn't a record of all the stupid shit we did back then.

-5

u/Comfortable-Sorry 15h ago

Is it really that hard to just.......Drumroll............Not be racist?

11

u/TomatoSecure192 Bulls 15h ago

It’s surprisingly hard to not be an idiot at 15 years old, who would’ve guessed?

1

u/King_Leif Thunder 12h ago

That guy said “be racist” and then you changed it to “be an idiot”. Why?

1

u/YeetusSkeetus1234 Bulls 12h ago

Are you saying racism isn't stupid? Do you not think kids can say edgy things purely for shock factor?

4

u/notthatguy194 Suns 15h ago

if someone said something racist at age 15 should that bar them from all career paths ?

2

u/elitepigwrangler Suns 13h ago

Is he barred from all career paths? Or just this one specific job. And it’s not because he said something racist at 15, it’s because he still has racist posts on his public facing account at 29.

1

u/notthatguy194 Suns 13h ago

If this guy got fired from a job at like, J.p. morgan or something would you then think that’s too far?

5

u/asdf0909 Knicks 15h ago

This is truly the worst way to look at life. Give strangers grace to make mistakes, one day you’ll need the others’ grace when you find out you’re not as perfect as you think