The Portland Trail Blazers hired 29-year-old Braiden Bell as their lead TV announcer on Thursday, then fired him the same evening, before he ever called a game.
Bell had moved over from the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury to take the job, becoming the youngest primary broadcaster in the NBA and the successor to longtime announcer Kevin Calabro. He never got the chance to sit behind a microphone for the team.
The reversal came after local station KGW surfaced posts from Bell’s social media account dating from 2012 to 2014, when he was a teenager. In a December 2012 post, a 15-year-old Bell wrote, “I’m not racist at all.. But not gonna lie.. Asian people piss me off! Hahaha #Honest.” In July 2013, he posted, “no blacks either. #racist.” He also made comments disparaging women in other posts from the same period.
The Trail Blazers moved immediately. There was no suspension, no administrative leave, no review period. By that evening the team had issued a statement terminating him:
“The Portland Trail Blazers have zero tolerance for racist, sexist, or harmful comments. Social media posts made by our recently announced play-by-play broadcaster are in clear violation of team and league policies, as well as our values and expectations. Therefore, we will not be moving forward with this broadcaster. The play-by-play role carries a long legacy of excellence, on the broadcast and in character, and we hold that standard without exception. We did not meet our own bar in this process, and for that we apologize to Blazers fans and to Rip City. We believe strongly 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.”
The decision drew pushback online. One critic wrote: “This guy’s career may have just been ruined. Before he even graduated high school. Did he post something stupid as a stupid kid? Or do we really believe those posts as a child reflect who he is as an adult? Do ppl even care or do we just want blood? Is this really what we want?” Another accused the franchise of “virtue signaling” by hanging decade-old posts over Bell’s head to end his career before it started.
The Trail Blazers did not immediately respond to a request for comment from OutKick.
