Blazers face backlash after firing broadcaster over teenage social media posts

The Trail Blazers’ decision to fire newly hired television play-by-play broadcaster Braiden Bell isn’t exactly receiving universal applause.

In fact, quite the opposite.

Portland announced Thursday night that it would not move forward with Bell after old social media posts containing racist and misogynistic comments surfaced. Bell had been announced as the team’s new television voice only hours earlier.

But the circumstances surrounding those posts have become a significant part of the reaction. Bell reportedly wrote them in 2012 and 2013, when he was about 15 years old.

That distinction has prompted considerable backlash on social media, including in replies to both the Blazers’ announcement⁠ and KGW’s report⁠ on the firing. Many commenters aren’t defending what Bell wrote. Instead, they’re questioning whether comments made by a teenager roughly 14 years ago should cost a 29-year-old his job today.

That’s a fair distinction. What Bell wrote was inappropriate. There’s no need to dance around that. An apology and explanation certainly would have been warranted.

But there’s also something to be said for allowing people to grow up. Most adults probably wouldn’t particularly enjoy having the dumbest things they said at 15 presented as evidence of who they are today.

Bell wasn’t an NBA broadcaster when he wrote those posts. He wasn’t even an adult. He was a kid.

The Blazers chose not to give him much opportunity to publicly explain whether the 29-year-old Bell bears any resemblance to the teenager who wrote them.

They made their decision quickly. Judging by the reaction, plenty of their fans aren’t convinced they made the right one.