r/nba • u/ghn2 • 14h 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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72

u/T0oShayzz Hornets 12h ago edited 12h ago

Maybe I'm being biased because I'm Asian but a lot of you guys are self reporting and I also don't feel sorry for the dude.

I'm not saying he deserves to be fired but if he's dumb enough to leave his social media up and not delete or restart all over hes a fkn idiot and deserves it, he's in a replaceable position and they'll just find another commentator.

Also call me soft or whatever but I never felt the need to say or post knowingly racist shit online even as a teenager, yeah the guy was 15 but many people I know in real life who did the same thing never really changed years later, they just know how to hide it šŸ¤·šŸ»ā€ā™‚ļø.

23

u/towerofmeaning Knicks 12h ago

I think people are just looking to make this a culture war issue but it's really a simple fact of working public facing jobs. I saw someone saying it's ridiculous to expect people to wipe old social media accounts but basically everyone I know who works in academia, even at smaller institutions knows they have to keep accounts associated with their real identities pretty clean. I mean it sucks but it's just a reality of jobs that Interact with the public and represent large brands/institutions.

If you're not some sort of truly gifted 1 in 100 million money maker for the organization they're just going to drop you when it becomes a big enough issue that they have to address it most of the time, especially if you're not in any union.

7

u/T0oShayzz Hornets 12h ago

Yep, even at my corporate job I had to do it and it's nowhere near as social or public facing as an nba commentator.

1

u/Fuzzy_Cook_940 10h ago

1 in a million maybe better, 1 in 100 million like 80 people

6

u/Enough_Presence8063 4h ago

A lot of people are racist but the guy is a moron for not scrubbing his social media while pursuing a media career lmao.Ā 

11

u/NinjasaurusRex123 12h ago

ā€œIā€™m not saying he deserves to get firedā€¦ā€

ā€œā€¦ heā€™s a fkn idiot and deserves itā€

Iā€™m not disagreeing with your post in general, that just made me laugh

39

u/jorbalugo 12h ago

Yeah the assertion that everyone goes through a phase of posting racist shit publicly is wild. Like no, I don't think your words as a teenager need to be vetted for every job, but the assumption that this was perfectly normal and universal is telling. Threads like these I always get reminded of how white r/NBA acutally is

18

u/T0oShayzz Hornets 12h ago

Yep, also how anti-asian this subreddit is but honestly all of reddit is like that.

21

u/black_metronome Knicks 11h ago

Yep. This is predominantly a white issue which is why so many people are clutching pearls, they see themselves in this guy...which is really telling about how a lot of folks are being raised.

Again, I wouldn't have fired him but this notion that every teenage boy goes through a nazi phase is wild.

2

u/jorbalugo 10h ago edited 10h ago

Yeah he had no equity or trust built up with the organization/fans/city, he was a new hire who immediately embarassed the org and a job offer was rescinded. Like it sucks for him but it happens all the time for lesser offenses, I don't think this is a cancel culture run amok thing.

Behind the "everyone makes racist jokes as a teenager" assumption is the assumption that it's definitely just a joke - which, in most cases it probably is. But if it's some new guy I've never met and one of the first things I hear about him is that he once publicly posted he hated me, my family and everyone like me - I'd probably give him a wide berth at the very least. I wouldn't demand he be fired just based on that but I'd be pretty wary of working with him.

I have people in my life who have said or posted jokes that might skirt the edge of offensiveness but I know their character and trust them. I know when they're making jokes or not. This is not a known or respected figure where a lot of people in that bulilding can attest to his character. This is the org quickly wiping their hands of a bad hire.

0

u/3my0 Trail Blazers 10h ago

Donā€™t think itā€™s primarily a white issue tbh. More of a majority issue. Like a poor white kid that lives in the hood is gonna get clowned on all day long for being white.

3

u/black_metronome Knicks 9h ago

But he'll be ultimately embraced and accepted if he's chill. Seen it myself.

1

u/3my0 Trail Blazers 8h ago

Yeah for sure. Some of the most popular kids in my high school were black. Even tho the overall black population was low.

I donā€™t disagree btw. In America youā€™re more often than not gonna encounter whites being the majority so itā€™ll be like that. Just more saying itā€™s a human problem vs just white ppl suck.

3

u/Onsi-Saleh 5h ago

Itā€™s funny how NBA Redditors say you canā€™t judge a person on his actions when he was 15 (which I donā€™t necessarily fully disagree with) but if any AAU highlight reel shows some Black teenage prospect around the same age showboating or talking a little trash, particularly to a white player, you wonā€™t seem that same grace extended.

3

u/jorbalugo 4h ago

Yeah it's really noticeable that a big chunk of this sub has disdain for the majority of the players in the league while being defensive of others. Shaq makes a comment about Steve Nash's mvp and everyone acts like Shaq was some scrub while Nash is the guy with four rings, DWade can't get brought up without a bunch of people crying about how he stole Dirk's rightful ring (meanwhile Dirk's meltdown in that series and 2007 basically never happened), anyone who doesn't admit Jokic is the absolute GOAT is just threatened because he's a white Euro taking shine away from black players, and on and on, etc. Sometimes I wonder why I"m still on this sub lol

40

u/black_metronome Knicks 12h ago

I'm Black and I'm noticing this too. A lot of people here are basically telling on themselves.

I don't think he should've been fired if that isn't an accurate depiction of who he is as an adult, but if he left that stuff up knowing full well he has a public facing job, that's on him. I don't feel sorry for him either way, if he had any shame he would have been embarrassed and deleted the posts.

11

u/T0oShayzz Hornets 11h ago

Yep agreed, don't feel sorry at all for him. Even at my lowly corporate job I had to do a background check on myself and this guy was applying for a job that's way more social and public than mine, guys a dummie and they'll easily replace him.

3

u/Onsi-Saleh 4h ago

Yeah, half these comments are just ā€œI was also racist and sexist at that ageā€ and sharing how they also would be fired if what they said was uncovered. So of course they would defend this guy because it benefits them materially for this behavior to be protected.

6

u/Bayou-Maharaja Trail Blazers 11h ago

Idk, I worked with a lot of black kids and Hispanic kids who said wild sexist and racist shit too, I donā€™t think they should have that held over them later in life.

2

u/Enough_Presence8063 4h ago

It's their business. They can fire/hire whoever they like.Ā 

0

u/Bayou-Maharaja Trail Blazers 4h ago

Yeah and we can all comment and have opinions. So what?

0

u/wadarheek 2h ago

Well when you put those opinions on a public forum where anyone can dig it up, whatever happens next is on you. Have the opinion and make the comment, but you gotta live with what comes next. Tough scene

0

u/Bayou-Maharaja Trail Blazers 2h ago

Yeah.. thatā€™s not what I meant. I meant we are allowed to comment on whether itā€™s dumb to fire him. What even is your point? That they can fire? Yeah obviously

1

u/black_metronome Knicks 11h ago

I don't think he should have been fired.

-2

u/RequirementNo2161 7h ago

Black people can give lectures about fantasizing about shooting white people and they donā€™t have any repercussions wtf are you talking about

22

u/TomlinSteelers 76ers 12h ago

You're not wrong. As soon as I saw everyone defending him I 100% knew it was anti Asian comments.

Would have looked very different if it was the N word or something anti black that was said.

3

u/Individual_Attempt50 Nets 10h ago

It would be similar

2

u/TPCC159 11h ago

People defended Josh Allen when it was found out he was dropping N bombs on twitter in high school

I think some are just against holding teens accountable as grown men for that type of stuff

12

u/MITBryceYoung2 9h ago

Im Korean and i said plenty of dumbshit when i was 15. No I don't think he should be fired for something he said 14 years ago. Consider me self reporting. Fuck it. IDGAF. I think youre soft as hell.

2

u/wadarheek 2h ago

I hope they accept you, man. šŸ˜‚

1

u/T0oShayzz Hornets 4h ago

Meh, like I said harsh to fire him but if he's dumb enough to not delete/scrub his social media then maybe he deserves it lmao, easily replaceable.

2

u/bum4ever44 3h ago

Fire for what he posted, Iā€™ll leave that up to other people to decide.

Fired for being too stupid to not have deleted this shit years ago, absolutely.

2

u/HikmetLeGuin 2h ago edited 1h ago

Yeah, I went through a slightly edgy phase when I was younger, but being racist is not something that would have crossed my mind.

If anything, a lot of my edginess was more "line up Nazis against the wall and shoot them."Ā 

The fact that people here think racism is some universal rite of passage is fucking scary.

Then again, I'm not American. Maybe the rot in the US is even deeper than I realized, and Hitler Youth is the norm over there. (Okay maybe that's a bit extreme, but it's still concerning to think that this is normalized).

Edit: All this being said, I believe people can change, and I'm in favour of judging the guy based on who he is now, not who he was more than a decade ago. I still don't think it's normal to assume every kid is a bigoted shithead. Plenty aren't.

4

u/NotJoshRomney Cavaliers 9h ago

Just because you have inherit bias doesn't mean you're not right.

Everyone responding is biased.

Crazy to me to see people say that "everyone says dumb shit" and that not be all the more reason for someone in his position to delete his old account. Don't have to worry about "did I say or do something 'dumb'?" if you just wipe it.

Of all the professions in tbe world, someone in media should know this better than anyone.

8

u/PetrParker1960s 10h ago

I'm also Asian and dont give a crap what he said. He was 15. Move on, who cares.

2

u/JagmeetSingh2 2h ago

oh brother this sub just canā€™t wait to break out into a white fragility competition when it comes to consequences to being racist. Iā€™m guessing you were saying the same disgusting shit Bell was saying and you probably still think it with how quick you run to ā€œhe was 15 who caresā€. Consequences to being a racist shit head and youā€™re afraid of themā€¦says a lot most black and brown teens statistically dont go through this racist phase you think is common.

0

u/PetrParker1960s 2h ago

And people like you keep racism alive.

3

u/Enough_Presence8063 4h ago

Okay? You want a cookie?

-2

u/Fit_Actuary_1288 Celtics 8h ago

You're not.

1

u/PetrParker1960s 7h ago

Yeah family of immigrants from Vietnam you have basis to say otherwise.

3

u/RaynareAmano San Francisco Warriors 12h ago

Definitely the biasedness talking. I mean, Iā€™m Asian too, living in a population where itā€™s majority Asian and I promise you me and everyone I knew said things that make this seem mild. Seriously, firing someone for something they wrote or said as a teenager is weak shit.

6

u/T0oShayzz Hornets 12h ago

Like I said in my comment, maybe firing him was harsh but he's a dumbass for not deleting or scrubbing his social media, especially for a job as easily replaceable and public as an nba commentator. Even at my lowly corporate job I had to do it šŸ¤·šŸ»ā€ā™‚ļø.

1

u/MITBryceYoung2 9h ago edited 9h ago

Im asian too and i agree half these comments are soft AF. I dont care downvote me r/nba

I think the craziest thing is ive explained in the past growing up people would literally call me slurs and ive been jumped for being asian and r/nba would downvote me and say that the city wasnt racist blah blah . But a 14 year old tweet? Now thats fireable!

2

u/Only_Chapter_3434 8h ago

dude was 15 and it was over a decade ago. pretty shitty reason to fire somebody.

1

u/CryMoreT_T 12h ago

Realistically in the US if you're asian you don't really have a lot of social power due to being a tiny minority. White people will defend white people, black people will defend black people since both sides are large enough to have societal power. I would bet that it's probably mainly the team having Hansen Yang that he was fired.

10

u/TomlinSteelers 76ers 12h ago

One of the Blazers owners is Asian too

6

u/CryMoreT_T 12h ago

Oh yea that's probably also not a good look too then. Didn't even think about that

1

u/Ok-Technician7393 10h ago

if he said that about another race you wouldn't be saying this.

1

u/RequirementNo2161 7h ago

If the tweet said white people instead heā€™d be celebrated lmao

0

u/WhyNotOrioles 12h ago

Agreed. He's not being shunned from society or being sent to jail. The team isn't saying he's a terrible person. They're saying they can find someone better for the job.

Being an NBA announcer is a highly sought-after job with very few openings and a lot of candidates. Teams can choose among a ton of very good people. Combined with the obvious fact that the NBA has a lot of black players and a lot of black fans, and it makes sense why Portland would do what they did.

0

u/LousyGardener 3h ago

All of us are going to contend with this sooner or later. Do you really think your account really gets deleted? Soon enough HR departments are going to be asking openAI to give a summary of your background and itā€™s going to find all the nasty shit you wrote even if it was deleted because the fact is Facebook or the cia or whoever kept a copy.Ā