Braiden Bell barely had time to enjoy his new job before it disappeared.
The Portland Trail Blazers announced Bell as their new television play-by-play broadcaster. Hours later, the team fired him.
Yes, hours. That may be one of the shortest honeymoon periods in sports broadcasting history.
The sudden decision came after old posts from Bell’s X account resurfaced. The posts were reportedly from 2012 and 2013. They contained racist and misogynistic comments, including references to “Asian people” and offensive terms aimed at women.
There was just one major detail. Bell was roughly 15 years old when the posts were made but that did not stop the controversy.
Once the old posts began circulating, the announcement quickly turned into a social media firestorm. Fans and others questioned how the posts were missed before Bell was introduced as the team’s new broadcaster.
And that is where things got awkward.
Imagine getting the dream phone call. You celebrate, you tell your friends and you probably start thinking about your first broadcast.
Then the internet discovers your teenage social media history.
Suddenly, the dream job becomes a very short chapter.
The Trail Blazers moved quickly. The team reversed its decision and fired Bell on the same day he was introduced.
KGW in Portland reported that one of its journalists had spotted the posts and reached out to the Blazers for comment before the team announced it had fired Bell.
“The Portland Trail Blazers have zero tolerance for racist, sexist, or harmful comments,” the Blazers 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 play-by-play role carries a long legacy of excellence, on the broadcast and in character, and we hold that standard without exception. We did not meet our own bar in this process, and for that we apologize to Blazers fans and to Rip 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. We will do better.”
The situation also raises a bigger question about old social media posts. What someone wrote online as a teenager can remain searchable years later. The internet has an extremely long memory.
Apparently, it remembers everything.
As of late Thursday night, posts using the language remained on Bell’s X account when viewed by The Post.
Among the posts that the local news station found was one that mentioned disliking Asian people.
“I’m not racist at all.. But not gonna lie.. Asian people piss me off! Hahaha #Honest,” Bell wrote in a post on Dec. 9, 2012.
A post several weeks earlier read, “Gotta give a shoutout to all the big girls out there and those closet w—s.”
“We got a slut alert on aisle 10,” Bell wrote on Feb. 13, 2013, KGW noted in its report.
The report noted that it had not discovered any offensive posts from Bell when he was of adult age.
For Bell, the episode is a reminder that the internet never really forgets.
