Trail Blazers End Bell Hiring After Posts Surface

The Portland Trail Blazers ended Braiden Bell’s appointment as their television play-by-play broadcaster within hours of announcing his hiring, after derogatory social media posts attributed to him from his teenage years came to light. The team said the posts violated its policies and values and acknowledged that its hiring process had fallen short of its standards. Bell, 29, was announced Thursday, October 1, as the team’s new play-by-play voice. The Trail Blazers said later that day they would not move forward with him. He did not call a game for Portland. The posts were reported to date from 2012 and 2013, when Bell was about 15. They included derogatory remarks about Asian people and women. The reporting said a journalist who found the posts contacted the team. Bell had not publicly commented on the firing in the reports provided. In its statement, the Trail Blazers said the posts were in clear violation of team and league policies, as well as the organization’s values and expectations. The team also apologized to fans, saying it had not met its own standard in the hiring process and would do better.