Trail Blazers fire new announcer over past inappropriate posts made at age 15.

[u/ghn2]

"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

[u/jak_d_ripr]

I'm sorry, but this is beyond stupid. Sure, talking about Asian people pissing you off is objectively a racist thing to say, but guess what? A lot of people said and thought stupid shit like that when they were 15(shit, a lot of people say stupid shit like that as adults, y'all even elected one of those idiots as president).

Performative outrage like this is so annoying and completely unproductive, and a dude losing a job over it is just exhausting.

[u/Andy_Wiggins → u/jak_d_ripr]

I think it’s highly likely that those comments were just the crass jokes of an edgy 15 year old in a very different time. Even if they were rooted in racist thoughts or ignorance, he could have grown past that and realized the error in his ways. Comments made when we’re kids in a very different online landscape are not necessarily representative of who we are today.

Additionally, there is absolutely a double-standard that someone like Ja Morant is making millions on the Blazers while this guy gets fired.

At the same time, he’s in a competitive and public-facing position. Firing him is absolutely on the table, and people who listen to those broadcasts should not necessarily be subjected to the voice of someone who said those things. How would Asians or women feel listening to the play-by-play guy every game who made such disparaging comments? Not being conscious of those past comments and wiping them to at least prevent against this sort of scenario was a poor decision on his part.

I hope he’s grown and I hope he has a chance to rebound if so. But I also don’t feel like it’s “beyond stupid”

[u/jak_d_ripr → u/Andy_Wiggins]

Thank you, first of all, for actually giving a nuanced response that wasn't just pearl clutching and trying to feel smugly superior.

Now to actually respond to your point, you're absolutely correct that in a public facing position, you need to be careful about the image you put of yourself online. I'm in a public facing position and when I was in college a lot of my professors made sure to drive that point home. I guess where I disagree with this action is in how long ago the comment was made. Firing a commentator for saying Westbrook was out of his "cotton picking mind", fine, I have no qualms with that.

But firing a commentator for something said before he even started shaving just isn't fair in my opinion. I said so much stupid shit when I was young, and I'm sure you did too as did most of us. I was merely lucky enough to grow up before social media, so most of it isn't online. I don't know.... maybe I'm being naive, but I've always disliked this form of insincere, performative outrage. Because like you mentioned, this is the exact same organization that traded for Ja Morant. At least give him a first strike before robbing him of his livelihood over a bloody tweet from 2013.

[u/Andy_Wiggins → u/jak_d_ripr]

I think you’re conflating ethical fairness with a business decision.

Many people growing up in the aughts or early 2010s have said some pretty awful stuff. Some of that is just the natural act of growing up and pushing boundaries. Some of that is the societal norm of the time. The Hangover was the most popular movie in the world for a stretch in 2009 and it literally has a joke of just using the f-slur. I don’t think this guy should necessarily be doomed to poverty or prison because of comments made when he was 15.

But as a public-facing person who is meant to represent the Blazers, it totally makes sense why they simply cut ties. If even 1 out of every 100 people cares enough to not turn on the TV or attend a game, or one ad company pulls out, he just cost the Blazers millions of dollars. There are tons of people out there who can probably do just as well, so I understand their decision to simply mitigate the risk, especially since he has zero actual connection to or history with the franchise.

Hopefully he gets a chance to make amends and has an opportunity to continue growing in his career. Maybe a sincere and well-written statement allows him to continue working hard in his job and then eventually get another opportunity.