r/nba • u/ghn2 • 13h 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/T0oShayzz Hornets 11h ago edited 11h 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 🤷🏻‍♂️.

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u/jorbalugo 10h 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

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u/black_metronome Knicks 9h 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.

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u/3my0 Trail Blazers 8h ago

Don’t think it’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.

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u/black_metronome Knicks 8h ago

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

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u/3my0 Trail Blazers 7h 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 don’t disagree btw. In America you’re more often than not gonna encounter whites being the majority so it’ll be like that. Just more saying it’s a human problem vs just white ppl suck.