Braiden Bell, 29, recently fired by the Portland Trail Blazers as their new play-by-play announcer due to racist and misogynistic tweets from his teenage years, has requested another chance from the team for the 2026-27 season. The posts, dating back to 2012 and 2013 when Bell was approximately 15 years old, included derogatory comments about Asian people and women. Despite apologizing and showing growth since then, Bell's request has been declined by the Blazers, who maintain their decision stands firm.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-06,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
The Portland Trail Blazers fired their newly hired television play-by-play broadcaster Braiden Bell hours after announcing his hiring due to racist and misogynistic posts from his teenage years. The posts, made on X (formerly Twitter) between 2012 and 2013 when Bell was around 15 years old, included derogatory comments about "Asian people" and used terms like "slut" in reference to women. KGW in Portland uncovered these posts before the Blazers officially terminated Bell's employment. The team stated they have a zero-tolerance policy for such comments, violating both league policies and their own values. Bell later apologized on X, saying his past tweets do not reflect who he is today. His legal team has since demanded his reinstatement, arguing that a teenager’s words from fourteen years ago should not dictate the rest of his professional life.
Written for “Fired Announcer Teen Tweets” on 2026-10-06,
grounded in this article and the 7 other(s) covering the same event.
Braiden Bell is begging for a second chance.
asserted
Bell → beg → chance
On Monday, the 29-year-old play-by-play announcer asked the Portland Trail Blazers for another shot at being the voice behind their team ahead of the 2026-27 season.
asserted
announcer → ask → season
Last week, the team hired the Arizona State graduate, who worked his way up from college sports gigs to calling games for the WNBA’s Mercury and the Suns’ G League team.
asserted
who → hire → Mercury
That same day, the Blazers quickly let him go after misogynistic and racist social media posts from his past resurfaced.
asserted
posts → let → past
By Tuesday, the team responded and opted to stick to their initial decision.
asserted
team → respond → decision
“We stand by our statement issued last week and have no further comment at this time.
asserted
We → stand → time
We wish Mr. Bell the best,” the Blazers told The Athletic.
asserted
Blazers → wish → Athletic
The problematic posts date back to 2012 and 2013 when Bell was around 15 years old.
asserted
Bell → date → 2012
The posts contained comments about “Asian people” and used the terms “slut” and “wh–s” in reference to women.
asserted
posts → contain → women
Asian people piss me off!
asserted
people → piss → me
Hahaha #Honest,” Bell wrote in a post on Dec. 9, 2012.
asserted
Bell → write → Dec.
“We got a slut alert on aisle 10,” Bell wrote on Feb. 13, 2013.
asserted
Bell → get → Feb.
Bell asked for his second chance in a statement through his counsel Arnie Herz.
asserted
Bell → ask → counsel
“Should the worst words a fifteen-year-old ever wrote decide the rest of his life?
asserted
old → write → life
That is the question now before the Portland Trail Blazers,” the statement read, per Awful Announcing.
asserted
statement → read → Announcing
“Braiden is not asking anyone to excuse what he wrote,” Herz added.
asserted
Herz → ask → what
“He has owned it, without excuses.
asserted
He → own → excuses
What he is asking is whether a boy’s words from fourteen years ago should outweigh everything the man has done since.
asserted
man → ask → everything
If that is the standard, hardly anyone in any organization in America could meet it.
uncertain
anyone → meet → it
Accountability means owning what you did and showing who you have become.
asserted
you → mean → what
Braiden has done both.”
asserted
Braiden → do → both
A journalist at KGW in Portland spotted the posts and reached out to the team for comment before Bell’s firing.
asserted
journalist → spot → firing
“The Portland Trail Blazers have zero tolerance for racist, sexist, or harmful comments,” the Blazers said in a statement.
asserted
Blazers → have → 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.
asserted
posts → make → policies
Therefore, we will not be moving forward with this broadcaster.
asserted
we → move → broadcaster
“The play-by-play role carries a long legacy of excellence, on the broadcast and in character, and we hold that standard without exception.
asserted
we → carry → exception
We did not meet our own bar in this process, and for that we apologize to Blazers fans and to Rip City.
asserted
we → meet → 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.
asserted
broadcaster → believe → values
We will do better.”
asserted
We → do → ?
The report from KGW noted that it had not found any offensive posts from Bell when he was of adult age.
asserted
he → note → age
Bell was hired to replace long-time voice of the Blazers, Kevin Calabro, who told The Oregonian he was leaving after he was offered a “subprime” contract deal.
asserted
he → hire → deal
The Aporia
