Portland Trail Blazers Face Reinstatement Calls for Fired Announcer

Braiden Bell, the former play-by-play announcer for the Portland Trail Blazers, seeks reinstatement following his termination over past social media posts. Bell, at age 29, was hired to replace Kevin Calabro, transitioning from the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury to become the youngest lead broadcaster in the NBA. His contract ended swiftly after 14-year-old tweets surfaced, showing offensive remarks he made at age 15.

The controversial tweets included statements like “I’m not racist at all.. But not gonna lie.. Asian people p— me off! Hahaha #Honest” and “no blacks either. #racist.” Bell’s legal representation, sports employment attorney Arnie Herz, pushes for his return. Herz, known for aiding San Antonio Spurs broadcaster Jacob Tobey’s reinstatement after suspension, issued a statement with OutKick emphasizing the necessity of questioning whether past mistakes should define Bell’s future career.

Should the worst words a fifteen-year-old ever wrote decide the rest of his life? That is the question now before the Portland Trail Blazers,” Herz’s statement read. He advocates not excusing Bell’s past words, but assessing his growth since then. “If that is the standard, there is hardly a person in any organization in America who could meet it.

Bell also issued an apology, expressing regret for the harm caused by his tweets and affirming they do not represent his current self. “I am deeply sorry for the language that I used on Twitter,” Bell stated. “I regret this being the first impression to many of you online, but I can take solace in knowing that the people who truly know me understand that this is not the kind of person I am.”

The Trail Blazers publicly responded, terminating Bell’s contract without placing him on administrative leave. They referenced team and league policy violations, emphasizing their zero-tolerance stance on racist or harmful comments. “We will not be moving forward with this broadcaster,” read a team statement. “We did not meet our own bar in this process, and for that we apologize to Blazers fans and to Rip City.”

Despite Herz’s call for reconsideration, the Portland Trail Blazers remain firm on their decision, communicating to The Athletic that they stand by the original statement and have no further comment. They expressed good wishes for Bell’s future endeavors.