Trail Blazers Fire New Announcer Hours After Hiring Over Teenage Tweets

The Portland Trail Blazers have fired Braiden Bell, their newly hired lead TV announcer, mere hours after the team announced his appointment. The decision came after decade-old social media posts made by Bell when he was a teenager resurfaced.

Bell, 29, was slated to replace veteran broadcaster Kevin Calabro and would have been the youngest primary announcer in the NBA. However, local station KGW unearthed tweets from Bell's account dating between 2012 and 2014.

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 added, "no blacks either. #racist." The unearthed posts also appeared to contain disparaging remarks about women.

The Trail Blazers organization issued a swift statement condemning the remarks and announcing their decision not to proceed with Bell's employment.

"The Portland Trail Blazers have zero tolerance for racist, sexist, or harmful comments," the team stated. "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 team further apologized to its fanbase, stating, "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."

Some social media users criticized the team's rapid decision, questioning whether the posts made by Bell as a minor reflected his current beliefs and arguing that his career was being ruined over teenage remarks. Others accused the franchise of "virtue signaling."