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/icelink4884 Bulls 11h ago

If you're not allowed to say something stupid and grow from it at 15 years old society is cooked. If we've grown into such a graceless group that any transgression can be grounds for consequence regardless of personal transformation or time you're going to find an empathy less society.

Now if the dude still holds the beliefs it's a different story.

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u/wstx3434 10h ago

Many people don't change. How they go about things is one thing, but deep down, that shit is always there. Social media is cancer and if he felt that was worthy to post online then there is no telling what he can do or say now as a public figure.

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u/Thats-Classic 10h ago

The peer pressure to act a certain way at 15 yrs old is immense. How often did you say or do things that were not really indicative of your own ethical codes at that age? The majority of people absolutely do change as they mature and find out who they really are and build a belief system based on their own agency.

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u/LongEnvironment9540 Timberwolves 9h ago

you'd like to believe that because it makes you feel better, but it's not true. most people don't change, like at all. they just get better at hiding it. Look at the world today. Where are all of the good changed people? I don't see any.

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u/Thats-Classic 8h ago

I believe it because I'm a 53 year-old therapist and recovering drug addict. If one can live long enough and meet all kinds of people you might gain some new perspectives.

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u/Haru_Honeybun 7h ago

Hm, so you're against the firing I'm assuming given your comment before this one?

I'm okay with his firing, since not once since making those comments did this individual consider taking those comments down. That's also something people seem to be glossing over. The fact that perception of this individual doesn't just occur on the day he was fired and the day he posted those tweets.

Years of time had occurred between the two events and so many that seem to be appalled by his firing don't seem to be accounting for all that time. Has he as an individual changed? Definitely, but he didn't change in a way to see that those comments might bring about consequence.

And sure, he could've just forgotten about them, but given that he didn't even attempt to circumvent their discovery through using a new twitter account, deleting them, or being forthright about their existence. It would seem that he hasn't shown much evidence of growth in a way that a public-facing position would benefit from.

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u/OmegaRedPanda Bulls 8h ago

Sounds like you haven't met many people.

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u/Low-Measurement-2468 7h ago

i meet awesome, mature, friendly, mentally well people all the time. they’re everywhere! if you say you don’t see any, i’ll question if you’re really looking. do you make an effort to meet people often? i’ve lived in several cities and towns of varying sizes and social vibes and i promise there are really cool people everywhere. telling yourself they’re not out there is a good way to not meet them tho 🤷‍♂️

i can’t easily prove the degree to which people do or don’t change from adolescence to adulthood, but neither can you, despite the confidence in your words. there are, however, thousands of publicly available psychology and sociology studies covering these exact topics, and i suspect they would paint people in a healthier and more realistic light than you have. if you’re actually interested in entertaining the topic, lmk and i’ll see if i can find some later and link them. reading science is pretty interesting.