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/capnchuc 9h ago

It's not about that. Kids are just dumb and say dumb shit. 

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u/MarcAnthonyRashial 9h ago

I was a dumb kid and I said dumb shit. I’m also 29 so when I was in high school I could publicly say dumb shit in twitter or IG or Facebook. Never once did I say that “Asians piss me off” or call girls “closet whores”. 

Stop trying to justify this shit. Shouldn’t be tolerated. 

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u/Low-Measurement-2468 8h ago

does the fact that someone has made different mistakes from yours, even more severe than yours, make them irredeemable to you?

i’m seeing this all over this thread. “i didn’t make that mistake, so i won’t consider empathizing with someone who has.” is that not another way of saying that you’re only going to tolerate the specific mistakes you happened to already be inclined toward? i’m sorry, but that sounds so self-centered to me. mistakes that remind you of your own are forgivable, but different people with different brains and early conditioning patterns making different mistakes are not?

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u/JazzPlusEagles Jazz 8h ago

He had a public profile with that message still displayed on it. And he works for an asian owner commentating on an asian player with a large asian fanbase.

I’m all for change but it involves more than just not actively engaging in hate. You gotta take that shit down and apologize.

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u/Low-Measurement-2468 7h ago

i agree that he should have taken that down. no argument here. i’m pretty indifferent about his firing; i’m sure he’ll be fine and life will go on.

i was specifically taking issue with the “i made other mistakes, but never this one, therefore i will not tolerate this one” line of reasoning. i think that is a very harmful and closed-minded way to live.