The Portland Trail Blazers dismissed newly hired television play-by-play broadcaster Braiden Bell on October 1, hours after introducing him as the franchise’s next broadcast voice, after racist and misogynistic social media posts from his teenage years surfaced.
Bell issued a public apology the following afternoon, acknowledging that he wrote the comments and describing his language as wrong. The 29-year-old broadcaster said the posts did not reflect his present beliefs or conduct and apologized to people hurt by his words.
The NBA franchise in Portland, Oregon, had introduced Bell shortly after noon Thursday. By that evening, the team had reversed its hiring decision, saying the posts violated team and league policies governing racist, sexist and harmful comments. The dismissal came roughly eight hours after the hiring was made public.
The posts were discovered by KGW television reporter Devon Haskins while he was covering Bell’s appointment. Haskins contacted the Trail Blazers for comment after finding messages from 2012 and 2013 on the broadcaster’s Twitter account, now known as X. The team subsequently informed the station that it would not proceed with Bell.
The messages included derogatory comments about Asian people and degrading language directed at women. They had been written when Bell was approximately 15. KGW reported that it had not found comparable offensive posts from his adult years, although that finding did not constitute a complete review of his conduct.
Portland’s response addressed both the comments and the organization’s responsibility for selecting its broadcasters. The franchise acknowledged that its hiring process had fallen below its own standards and apologized to fans. It said the play-by-play position carries expectations for character alongside the professional requirements of calling NBA games.
The team also emphasized that members of its fan community should feel welcome and safe, and said its next broadcaster would be expected to uphold those values. Its statement cited violations of team and league policies but did not identify specific policy provisions.
In his Friday apology, Bell acknowledged the harm his words could still cause. He said he regretted that the posts had become many people’s first impression of him and maintained that those who knew him personally understood that the language did not represent his character today. He pledged to continue treating people with kindness and respect.
Bell had been hired to replace longtime television announcer Kevin Calabro. His previous assignments included play-by-play work for the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury and the NBA G League’s Valley Suns, giving him experience covering professional basketball before his selection in Portland.
His résumé also included broadcasts for Arizona State University and California Baptist University, along with work involving ESPN+, SiriusXM, the Pac-12 Conference and the Western Athletic Conference. The appointment would have placed him in a prominent NBA television role, but Portland withdrew it before he could begin calling the team’s games.