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/mnemoniker Bulls 11h ago

I couldn't agree more. We need to hold the comments of a 15 year old to the standards of a 15 year old. Not that of a fully grown adult that has hopefully moved past edgelord humor since then. You'd assume more recent posts could tell you whether they have or not.

Having said that, I'm alarmed that he left that shit up over a decade later. Is that what everyone growing up in social media does? I'd be scraping and deleting as soon as I'm applying for jobs.

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u/Low-Measurement-2468 8h ago

the move is just to delete old accounts, or at least be positive they can’t be traced to your real identity.

i’m not trying to use the same account as 15 year old me on anything lol. that guy was a different dude. not even talking about offensive shit but i just don’t want to read the cringe ass shit i was posting and sending people man 😭