NBA team hires and fires announcer on same day over teenage tweets: 'Asian people p*** me off!'
Premium domains for sale
Freedom Is Back In Style
Everything on the internet lasts forever.
Freedom Is Back
In Style
Premium domains for sale
This sage advice was everywhere at the turn of the millennium, but play-by-play broadcaster Braiden Bell may have been too young to hear it.
'Girls these nights ... Smh.'
On Thursday, Bell was introduced as the new announcer for the NBA's Portland Trail Blazers, with the organization praising him for being "authentic" and a "great fit" for the team, local outlet KGW8 reported.
However, Bell's tenure would last only mere hours as that same local outlet dug up some old X posts (then tweets) from Bell — when he was only 15 years old — and contacted the Trail Blazers for comment about them.
Bell was promptly fired for his old jokes, which were later described by the basketball team as "racist, sexist" and "harmful."
Bell wrote in 2012, "I'm not racist at all.. But not gonna lie.. Asian people piss me off! Hahaha #Honest," according to images shared by KGW8.
"Gotta give a shoutout to all the big girls out there and those closet whores. #BigUps," read another post.
Other posts featured by the local outlet from 2013 included "We got a slut alert on aisle 10," and "Girls these nights ... Smh. #ThirstyForTheD."
The Trail Blazers did not take these past remarks lightly and wrote in a statement that the team has zero tolerance for comments that 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 team went on to boast about the standard it holds for its play-by-play role, before apologizing to the city and fans.
"Everyone ... should feel welcome and safe," the organization added.
Interestingly enough, Portland as a city and the NBA franchise were once known for embracing misfits on the court. So much so that the team was referred to as the "Jail Blazers" due to how many players on the squad had criminal records.
RELATED: Peyton Manning's nephew learns what the liberal media is all about — and it may change him forever
Steph Chambers/Getty Images
Critics of Thursday's firing pointed out that Oregon state law dictates that juveniles can have their records expunged for serious crimes, while Bell was losing his job over immature commentary.
Clay Travis, founder of OutKick, wrote on X, "We have to stop firing people for tweets sent when they were minors."
Travis added, "If this guy had robbed a store as a minor, his juvenile record would be sealed forever. If we don't hold people accountable for crimes as minors, holding people accountable for Tweets is beyond absurd."
Blaze News reached out to Bell and his agency for comment. Neither provided an immediate response.
Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!
More from this network:
Domains for Sale · GOTPeople.org · TheDSAPlatform · The Truth About Socialism
What's Your Reaction?
Like
0
Dislike
0
Love
0
Funny
0
Wow
0
Sad
0
Angry
0
I am just an average American. My teen years were in the late 70s and I participated in all that that decade offered. Started working young, too young. Then I joined the Army before I graduated High School. I spent 25 years in, mostly in Infantry units. Since then I've worked in information technology positions all at small family owned companies. At this rate I'll never be a tech millionaire. When I was young I rode horses as much as I could. I do believe I should have been a cowboy. I'm getting in the saddle again by taking riding lessons and see where it goes.
Premium domains for sale
Comments (0)