Blazers fire new play-by-play announcer after old racist, sexist posts surface

The Trail Blazers have fired newly hired play-by-play announcer Braiden Bell less than a day after announcing his addition to the broadcast team.

Portland reversed course after racist and sexist posts from Bell’s social media account resurfaced, according to Sports Illustrated⁠.

“The Portland Trail Blazers have zero tolerance for racist, sexist, or harmful comments,” the team said in a statement. “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 posts dated to 2012 and 2013, when Bell was a teenager. In one from December 2012, Bell wrote that he wasn’t racist before adding that Asian people “piss me off.” Other resurfaced posts contained derogatory comments about women.

The Blazers also acknowledged shortcomings in their hiring process.

“We did not meet our own bar in this process, and for that, we apologize to Blazers fans and to Rip City,” the organization said. “We will do better.”

Bell, 29, had been selected to replace longtime broadcaster Kevin Calabro and would have become one of the NBA’s youngest television play-by-play voices.

Instead, Portland is again searching for a broadcaster with the preseason about to begin.