Attorney Criticizes Trail Blazers' Firing of Announcer Over Teenage Tweets

The Portland Trail Blazers have faced criticism for firing newly hired play-by-play announcer Braiden Bell over social media posts made when he was 15 years old. Bell's attorney, Arnie Herz, stated that the franchise has "set themselves up to fail" by enforcing such a stringent policy.

Herz described the current societal trend as a "gotcha and a teardown mindset," arguing that applying a zero-tolerance standard to comments made in adolescence is unreasonable. "If everything came to light of your most insensitive comments, your worst behaviors, you wouldn't be able to sustain this zero tolerance," Herz said in an interview with OutKick. He suggested that such a policy, if applied universally, would disqualify nearly everyone associated with a sports organization, from players to fans.

Hers characterized the team's morals clause as overly broad and "immoral" for encompassing actions from Bell's teenage years. He differentiated this from typical morals clauses that address egregious adult behavior, such as felony charges or horrific comments made during employment.

Furthermore, Herz contended that the Trail Blazers' decision contradicts their own history of leniency. "Not only do they have no precedence, there's very few organizations in the world of sports that have shown greater leniency to giving second, third, fourth, and fifth chances than the Blazer organization," he stated, referencing past incidents within the team that he deemed far more serious than Bell's teenage posts.

Hers also acknowledged the reality of how on-court performance can influence organizational decisions. "When you're a big star, you make a lot of money, the team very much depends on you, the league depends on you, you get more slack. That's just the reality. If Braiden could hit a three and defend players like the starting five, we wouldn't be here right now," he explained.

Herz urged the Trail Blazers to reconsider their decision, warning that their stance sets a problematic precedent for future hiring and scrutiny. "If I'm legal counsel for the Blazers, I'm saying to the Blazers: 'You have to reinstate this guy,'" Herz advised. "You've set yourself up to fail. Back off."

He concluded by advocating for a constructive resolution, suggesting that both Bell and the Trail Blazers acknowledge their respective mistakes. "Just like Braiden made a mistake, the Blazers made a mistake," Herz said. "Take responsibility, take accountability, let's move forward. Our goal is really to use this as a learning experience for everyone so that everyone could win."