Why did the Portland Trail Blazers fire their new announcer? On Thursday night, Oct. 1, the team fired Braiden Bell just hours after naming him its new television play-by-play voice. The reason was a set of racist and misogynistic posts Bell wrote on Twitter in 2012 and 2013, when he was about 15. The team announced both the hire and the firing on the same day.
How did it happen so fast? KGW reporter Devon Haskins found the posts Thursday afternoon. While the station was preparing its story, it asked the Blazers for comment. Several hours later, the team responded that Bell had been fired. The team has since removed every announcement of his hiring.
What did the Trail Blazers say about the firing?
The team said it has zero tolerance for racist, sexist or harmful comments. It said Bell’s posts clearly violated team and league policies, as well as the organization’s values, and that it would not move forward with him.
The Blazers also took some of the blame. The team said its play-by-play role carries a long history of excellence, both on the air and in character, and that it had failed to meet its own standard in this hire. It apologized to fans and to Rip City and promised that the next broadcaster would reflect the team’s values.
What posts led the Trail Blazers to cut ties?
According to ESPN, the posts included a remark disparaging Asian people and several crude, misogynistic comments about women. They were written about 14 years ago.
KGW’s review also found that by the second half of 2015, Bell’s public posts were almost entirely about sports. Even so, a 14-year-old tweet can surface in a matter of minutes, and the team had not caught it before making the announcement.
How did Braiden Bell respond to the Trail Blazers’ decision?
Bell apologized on X on Friday, Oct. 2. He said he was deeply sorry for the language he used, that the posts were wrong and written when he was 15, and that they don’t reflect who he is today. He said he regretted that this was the first impression many people got of him. He apologized to anyone his words hurt and said he would keep treating people with kindness and respect. He has since made his X account private.
Who was Braiden Bell before the Trail Blazers hired him?
Bell had called games for the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury and the G League’s Valley Suns over the past two years. Portland would have been his first NBA play-by-play job.
He was replacing Kevin Calabro, who had been the Blazers’ television voice since 2016 after 22 years with the Seattle SuperSonics. Calabro is widely considered one of the best play-by-play broadcasters in the country. He left in July after telling The Oregonian that the team had offered him what he called a ‘subprime’ contract. Many read that as a dig at new owner Tom Dundon, who made much of his fortune in subprime auto lending.
What happens next for the Trail Blazers’ broadcast booth?
Bell was scheduled to work Sunday’s Fan Fest scrimmage and start the job the following week. That seat is now empty, and the regular season is close.
The episode has also started a familiar debate online. Some fans argue that a 29-year-old shouldn’t lose a career over what he posted at 15. Others say the posts targeted Asian people and women, and that the voice of a team speaks for every fan in the city.
Both sides can agree on what went wrong. The posts weren’t buried. A local reporter found them in an afternoon. The Blazers say they will do better, and they are about to have a second chance to prove it.
