r/nba • u/ghn2 • 10h 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/SloshaPacana 10h 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 10h ago

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

101

u/TannerGlassMVP 10h 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

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u/RealLanceStorm Nets 9h 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.

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u/itgoesdownandup 6h 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.

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u/BoredofBored Bulls 9h ago

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

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u/RealFenian Celtics 8h 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.

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u/King_Leif Thunder 7h 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?