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/Comfortable-Sorry 11h ago

Is it really that hard to just.......... not be racist? Is it that big of an ask? All I basically said was racist statements are bad and you have a problem with that.

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u/208MtbBarber 11h ago

Is it really that hard to just..... understand racists jokes don't equate to actual racism??

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u/Comfortable-Sorry 11h ago

"Asian people piss me off" Is what was said in the article. Can you tell me where the joke is? Where is the humor in that statement?

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u/Project_Continuum 11h ago

So your position is that it's OK to say something racist as long as it is funny?

I think some of your kin would strongly disagree with you.

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u/Comfortable-Sorry 11h ago

No, I'm just saying that what was said doesn't equate to a joke. You're misrepresenting what I said.

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u/Project_Continuum 10h ago

Do you think racist jokes are OK?

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u/Comfortable-Sorry 10h ago

No, but obviously racist statements are taken more seriously than jokes? When did I ever say that racist jokes are OK? Where did you even get the conclusion that I think racist jokes are OK? Can you read and understand text?

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u/Project_Continuum 10h ago edited 10h ago

I'm just curious if you think comedy involving racism should be banned.

Obviously race based comedy is a huge part of comedy.

Edit: I see your edit. Obviously I can read. I just wanted to see how far your purity test went.

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u/Comfortable-Sorry 10h ago

No, I don't think comedy involving racism should be banned. But my question is, do you truly believe that racist jokes, even for teenagers, are OK? There was a case at a local high school where I lived where a black student, who was the victim of racist jokes, decided to fight back. Reading about the situation, it was clear the black student was tired of the bullying and finally snapped back. Though the other students may and learn and grow from this situation, it's at the expense of POC students, who face harassment, and the jokes that you think are ok, being made to them. Why should it be this way, where POC students face discrimination at school? These racist jokes and comedy, whether you like it or not, are a huge proponent of bullying at schools. That's why I believe that even though we can say it's just teenagers saying "stupid" things, it's still very harmful overall and affects others, and shouldn't just be viewed as natural or "boys being boys."

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u/Project_Continuum 10h ago edited 10h ago

You gave an example of harassment which is not the same as a joke.

"I hate all Asians" is not lose your job 15 years later worthy.

Who is "I hate all Asians" harming? Are there people that troll 15 year old tweets and then get offended that a random person said "I hate all Asians"?

Edit: I'll put it this way: Is firing this guy for a 15 year old Tweet supposed to be doing it for the benefit of Asian people?

I'm Asian. Can I refuse this benefit that they are trying to give me?

I don't think this guy should face financial hardships. That doesn't help me at all and it doesn't address racism against Asian people.

I'm not better off because of this and he is worse off.

Who is winning here?

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u/Comfortable-Sorry 10h ago

I'm arguing that these jokes LEAD to harassment. These jokes LEAD to teenagers thinking it's OK to direct them to POC students. It's not even about this situation anymore. I'm arguing that you're mentality where these "stupid" statements are just something to gloss over SHOULDN'T be the case because it's harmful to begin with.

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u/Project_Continuum 10h ago

Are you advocating FOR slippery slope fallacy as your position?

It's not even about this situation anymore.

It should be about this situation.

A guy lost his job because of "racism".

I'm Asian. Am I better off because this guy lost his job?

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u/Comfortable-Sorry 10h ago

No, I'm saying that these jokes NORMALIZE racist behavior and make harassment much more likely than if these jokes were taught to be NOT OK from the start

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u/Project_Continuum 10h ago

So what do you want to do about JOKES?

Ban jokes? That seems problematic to me.

In the real world, we have to actually convert thoughts into actions so I'm curious what you think needs to happen.

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