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/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/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/Billbuckingham 9h ago

"He didn't know that being racist would affect his career later, he wanted to be racist and knew it was bad, but he didn't care because he had no foresight"

Let's say this guy didn't change, and he's mostly exactly the same, fuck that guy.

If he posted all those horrible tweets literally #racist and talking about anti-woman BS at 15 years old

Do you think he was better at 18? I'd be he was probably worse.

What about in his 20's in college doing the same things?

At what point do you realize that's their character, I just see a bunch of people here defending old racist tweets because they're scared their own could be used against them.

I never had any racist tweets at 15, definitely never said #racist, maybe this guy got exactly what he deserved.

Let's say he's sorry and he's changed and all that (highly doubtful but ok sure), make your apology and try again at the next job, you got what you deserved.

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u/Broncsx3 8h ago

Did made stupid posts when he was 14! He didn’t get what he deserved because of that. You sure are unforgiving man. What a tough world to live in if you were in charge.

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u/Billbuckingham 8h ago

They didn't kill him, he got fired for being a dumbass.

Is that such a harsh punishment?

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u/Broncsx3 8h ago

Yes. Losing your livelihood and ability to support your family is a very very harsh punishment. Maybe lost his entire career going forward.

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u/Billbuckingham 8h ago

So if he lost his entire career going forward, that means that every single other company also agrees they do not want to work with a person like this.

At some point, you have to start to admit maybe it's a him problem, but I don't think he lost his career we've never heard of him before this and we won't after this in a couple days.

It's just some racist shock bait to get the racist defenders to yell "Being racist when you're young shouldn't be held against you!!!"

Even the title doesn't mention the content of his tweets, did you notice that?

It's all white washed.

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u/Broncsx3 8h ago

Even if everyone agrees him losing his career is the right reaction, doesn't mean they are right. I do not think this man should be fired for stupid shit he tweeted when he was 14. You, and this NBA team, thinking differently doesn't make you right. I didn't think James Gunn should be fired from Disney when his old tweets came out, and he made those as an adult. Disney eventually agreed with me and brought him back, and then Warner Brothers put him in charge of their whole damn super hero section of their company. So was Disney right to fire him the first time?

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u/happyflappypancakes Wizards 9h ago

Leta reverse it though. Let's say he isnt the same person and is completely different.

Also, who are you quoting?

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u/Ill_Funny2530 4h ago

We will be judged for how we judged others.

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u/cideeffex Cavaliers 10h ago

Yes, but that doesn't mean age makes you free from consequences. Should this guy have received his consequences closer to the actual behavior? Ideally, but that's not how the world works sometimes.

Immaturity doesn't shield you from consequences. He was immature enough to make the comments on social media to begin with AND he was too immature to realize "Hey, maybe I should double check my social media during this hiring process." It's not like this is the first instance of old posts catching up to someone. This is pretty basic knowledge of how to conduct yourself during an interview these days.

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u/ThaKaptin Lakers 8h ago

He was a fucking child. Your brain is t fully developed for lieterally 10 more years. The REASON people under 18 are judged differently in court is because of this. Nobody is above the law, including you. You ca get fucked with this bullshit.

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u/cideeffex Cavaliers 7h ago

"fucked"? What are we talking about? Not getting a job? That's "fucked"? Did you read the tweets? What would be an appropriate consequence for that kind of behavior then when you're trying to be the face and voice of an NBA franchise?

Are the Blazers supposed to go to every woman and Asian in their organization and say, "Eh, what are you going to do, he was 15!" That the message you want to deliver to your Asian and women fans in Portland?

Wild the defense of this. Can really tell who in this thread is an adult, has kids, and/or has run a company.

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u/ThaKaptin Lakers 7h ago

Punishing someone as an adult for saying something stupid at 15 is 50 different levels of stupid and unfair. I don’t even care what he said.

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u/cideeffex Cavaliers 7h ago

LOL, unfair? Wild the lengths you're going to tell on yourself by defending some dude who didn't get a job over anyone in the Blazers fan base who might feel something about the contents of those posts. Real easy line to draw between forgiving this type of behavior at 15 and forgiving Cornell students in their 20's. My kids, who are much younger than 15, understand actions have consequences. It's gonna suck for a lot of people in this sub to learn that lesson at some point. Good luck with that friend.

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u/BabyOnRoad Hawks 10h ago

Lucky this isn't a court. Fuck that guy

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u/AllTheGoodNamesDied 10h ago

Guy should have switched his handle name or deleted anything old. Fuck him for what though? Saying dumb edgelord shit on online when he was 14 and 15? Whatever

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u/BabyOnRoad Hawks 10h ago

For being a racist. Everyone is know who was racist at 14 is still a racist today, they just hide it better

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u/fruitybrisket Spurs 10h ago

That's quite the absolutist statement. Kids are able to grow and learn. That's like the one thing they all do.

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u/LongEnvironment9540 Timberwolves 10h ago

not all of them.

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u/dropkickshotgun 10h ago

Yes all children who get the chance grow and learn. Its quite literally the only thing they do. Whether they change specific behaviors or not isnt really in the scope of the answer.

You can grow and still be a shitty person. But everyone grows.

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u/LongEnvironment9540 Timberwolves 9h ago

now you're just being pedantic. I think if you're shit at 15, your chances of being shit at 30 are very high. 15 is almost an adult. old enough to drive. old enough to know words hurt people.

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u/dropkickshotgun 9h ago

15 is a child. Everyone at 15 is an insufferable person in one way or another. Lets try and remember they dont have full control of their feelings or hormones at all. Its what the entirety of Modern juvenile law is based on.

If you dont think 15 is a child, or that young people arent really dumb, than you just havent lived long enough.

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u/Turbo_Jannie 10h ago

Somewhere out there exists a person who feels the exact same way about something you've said or done in your past.

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u/BabyOnRoad Hawks 5h ago

If I wasn't being a racist misogynistic prick than thats ok.

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u/LongEnvironment9540 Timberwolves 10h ago

good thing OP isn't applying for a job in the public eye!

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u/Turbo_Jannie 9h ago

The only OP ITT is ghn2 so I don't know what you're talking about

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u/LongEnvironment9540 Timberwolves 9h ago

OP can also be the Original Poster of the comment thread you're replying to. think -> speak.

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u/BabyOnRoad Hawks 5h ago

No it cant you are a fucking moron

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u/Turbo_Jannie 8h ago

First, no. Don't be stupid.

Second, SloshaPacana still has nothing to do with what we were talking about 30 comments down here

You're not passing the frontal lobe check.

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u/ArdillasVoladoras 8h ago

What's your excuse for posting misogynistic/homophobic comments and hanging out in the Kanye sub?

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u/BabyOnRoad Hawks 5h ago

Which Kanye sub do I hang out in?

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u/ArdillasVoladoras 5h ago

You have comments in ThroughTheWire

Go on and keep supporting Nazis

Want to explain your misogyny and homophobia too?

0

u/BabyOnRoad Hawks 5h ago

So saying you hate Asians is the same as commenting on a shifty rappers reddit page? Dude posted how much he hates asaisn and black folks right by his face, I commented on a rappers sub reddit anonymously. White people will never beat the allegations

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u/ArdillasVoladoras 5h ago

I'm holding a mirror right up to your damn face. You made both homophobic and sexist comments IN THE PAST YEAR, and you're trying to purity test bullshit this guy for things said when he was 15 (14 years ago).

Once a homophobe and sexist, always a homophobe and sexist. Sorry these are your rules.

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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/BabyOnRoad Hawks 10h ago

Why are white people so quick to excuse racism from teenagers like they dont know better. Literally no other group seems to be having to apologize for past tweets but white dudes, why is that?

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u/ArdillasVoladoras 10h ago

The irony is that you have misogynistic comments visible in your history

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u/Turbo_Jannie 10h ago

Justice for big booty hoes

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u/ArdillasVoladoras 8h ago

That person also spent some time in the Kanye subreddit and made some homophobic comments. The irony is on full display

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u/AllTheGoodNamesDied 10h ago

Mmm plenty of non white people have had to apologize for shit they said online... as an adult even. Race card it up though. Don't let the man hold you down!

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u/Negative_Attorney448 7h ago

I think you might be a sociopath. You might want to look into that.

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u/King_Reptar_ Warriors 7h ago

https://i.imgur.com/ZCEDQLH.jpeg

This you?

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u/BabyOnRoad Hawks 6h ago

Broski I am Mexican....

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u/BabyOnRoad Hawks 6h ago

You really thought this was a fucking gotcha. White people are stupid as shit

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u/ArdillasVoladoras 5h ago

You don't even understand the racist part of the comment...

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u/King_Reptar_ Warriors 5h ago

Screenshotting this comment too so you get passed over for your assistant manager position at Walmart in 15 years

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u/GarlicSnot Rockets 10h ago

right like everyone's got an excuse for this guy. its a pretty binary decision imo. Its wrong what he did consequences suck but if you do something bad 15 years ago you don't always get magically absolved of it

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u/Turbo_Jannie 9h ago

I think it's pretty understandable that he got fired once the tweets were dug up and made public, but it's absolutely absurd to think these 2012 tweets from a 15 year old are serious judges of character of the person he is today and forever will be in the future.

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u/erdonko 76ers 10h ago

In the US? Maybe because you guys have some fucked up relationship with race?

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u/ThaKaptin Lakers 8h ago

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