Weak Reporter Who Got Blazers Broadcaster Fired Goes Into Hiding When Tables Turn

This article was written by Matt Foley and published on Sport & State, a new media company founded by Clay Travis that is built around sports, culture, original voices, and live conversation.
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That didn’t take long.

Less than 12 hours after the Portland Trail Blazers fired their newly hired broadcaster Braiden Bell for offensive tweets he made as a teenager, the internet returned the favor to the reporter who started this whole mess.

Devon Haskins is the KGW Portland reporter who dug through Bell’s Twitter history, exposing the insensitive posts from 2012-2013 that led to Bell’s swift termination.

By early evening on Friday, Haskins was hiding from the internet himself.

Earlier today, an X user named Dan Clark circulated a screenshot appearing to show a 2012 post from Haskins’ account joking about elderly women “working the polls” on Election Day.

Sport & State has not independently authenticated the deleted post, but the joke is so innocuous that it’s hard to believe it’s fake.

The reporter who went digging through Braiden Bell’s tweets from when he was a teenager, and found something misogynistic, has quite an interesting tweet of his own from 2012… https://t.co/jLaT9Yuk03

— Dan Clark (@DanClarkSports) October 2, 2026

And that’s the whole point. Who in their right mind would be offended by this joke?

No one, and the same grace should have been shown to Bell, who was approximately 15 years old when he wrote the posts that Haskins skewered him for, and ultimately the Blazers fired Bell for.

As is tradition in our modern media climate, rational thought lost the day. The Blazers caved to the fear of a hypothetical internet mob rather than doing more research and standing by their hiring decision.

A good organization would have researched if there was anything more to Braiden Bell’s tweets.

If there were not, it would let him apologize for insensitive tweets as a 15-year-old and let him keep the job.

The Trail Blazers do not appear to be a good organization.

— Andrew Marchand (@AndrewMarchand) October 2, 2026

Instead of considering that Bell was a kid, asking whether he’d changed during the ensuing 14 years or displaying any semblance of backbone, Portland yelled “zero tolerance” into the wind and hoped #NBATwitter would give them a pat on the back.

For his part, Bell apologized for the language while noting his age at the time.

I am deeply sorry for the language that I used on Twitter. These tweets, while wrong, were written by me 14 years ago while I was only 15 years old and have no reflection of who I am today. I do not take lightly any harm it causes now. I regret this being my 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. Again, I’d like to apologize to anyone who was hurt by my words and will continue to always treat people with kindness and respect.

-Braiden Bell

It’s all absurd, especially considering that Haskins and KGW can’t even be bothered to defend their reporting. As of this writing, neither has responded to Sport & State’s request for comment.

Haskins has deactivated his X account, though. H/T to the boss.

The cowardly Portland reporter who “exposed” tweets sent when a newly hired NBA play by play announcer was 15 years old has now deleted his Twitter account shortly after I tweeted this at him below. The opening of your newscast tonight @KGWNews should be a public apology.

— Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) October 2, 2026

Much like Bell, Haskins shouldn’t lose his job over an old tweet. He should, however, have to answer for the shameful inclination to take someone down for harmless, albeit stupid, posts made as a teenager.

Meanwhile, the Blazers are even more to blame. A competent organization would have caught these posts during background research. A conversation could have been had, and thoughtful consideration could have led to an outcome that no one outside the building would ever know about.

An incompetent but resolute organization could have withstood the 24 hours of internet whining and moved on in good faith.

The Blazers are neither. Instead, they were caught backfooted and panicked, taking no accountability along the way. That’s rich, coming from the club whose coach was leading a federal wire fraud and money laundering conspiracy.

Between this and their basketball operations department, at least they’re consistent.

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