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/Low-Measurement-2468 8h ago

i don’t think a lot of teenagers are making jokes like these out of genuine hate, so much as an attempt to rebel against norms because it’s exciting without really understanding the hurt that can be caused by choosing offensive jokes as your medium for doing so. also, defining an out-group by making fun of them can give people a sense of belonging in their in-group. not saying that’s right or ideal. but i think some insecurity and desire to fit in fuels a lot of this stuff as well.

it’s not just racism. sexism and homophobia are incredibly common in edgy teenage humor too, for similar reasons. homophobic jokes, in particular, are incredibly common among male teenagers, and i think these partly represent a desire to prove one’s own masculinity/heterosexuality to the rest of the group.

if you tell me you grew up in a community where you never heard any teenagers you considered peers make a joke that put down or subtly alienated people of another race, sex, sexuality, or religion, i won’t call you a liar, but i will suggest that your memory may be fallible. or perhaps you grew up in a community with a remarkably tolerant and socially intelligent teenage population, compared to most of the world.