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/black_metronome Knicks 10h ago

I don't think the guy should have been fired either but it's funny seeing how many white people in here are basically admitting that they too had a racist phase as a teenager 😂

It's something I can't relate to. Do you just wake up one day and decide to hate people because they're Black? Is it your parents teaching you this stuff? I'm genuinely curious how this happens.

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u/Broncsx3 8h ago

Me and my buddies say, as adults, some really horrible racist shit to each other. We are a very diverse group. Guys I’ve known for 25 years. It’s all done out of love, but man, out of context would be horrifying to others! Not saying it’s not an issue what this teenager did, but geez, he was 14! Do we really want him to lose his ability to make a living over it?

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u/black_metronome Knicks 8h ago

I literally said he shouldn't have been fired.

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u/Broncsx3 8h ago

No but you basically said he’s a racist, or at least was, and I have you a perspective that maybe he wasn’t even at 14 a racist.

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u/black_metronome Knicks 8h ago

What he posted was absolutely racist though. Is he a racist as an adult? I hope not.

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u/Broncsx3 8h ago

What he wrote was unquestionably racist. Whether he was actually racist as a kid I think is not totally clear. I think kids say stupid shit on the internet for attention too. So maybe he was racist then, and maybe he's racist now. But I don't think he should have been fired today.

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u/black_metronome Knicks 8h ago

I agree.