Fired Portland Trail Blazers broadcaster Braiden Bell has formally asked the NBA team for a second chance after being dismissed over offensive social media posts from his teenage years.
The Western Conference franchise fired the 29-year-old last Thursday on the same day they announced his hiring. The dismissal came just hours after KGW, an NBC affiliated television station in Portland, unearthed racist and misogynistic posts Bell shared when he was 15.
Bell, an Arizona State University graduate, issued an apology last week. Now, he has made a formal plea to the team through a statement released by his legal counsel, Arnie Herz.
"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," the statement from Herz read.
"Braiden is not asking anyone to excuse what he wrote," Herz continued. "He has owned it, without excuses. What he is asking is whether a boy's words from fourteen years ago should outweigh everything the man has done since."
Herz added that if perfection is the standard, hardly anyone in an American organization could meet it.
"Accountability means owning what you did and showing who you have become. Braiden has done both," Herz said.
Trail Blazers stand by decision
Despite the formal plea from Bell and his legal team, the Portland Trail Blazers are refusing to reverse their decision. The team told sports publication The Athletic that they will not reconsider the dismissal.
"We stand by our statement issued last week and have no further comment at this time," the team said in a statement to The Athletic. "We wish Mr. Bell the best."
When the team fired Bell last week, they released a statement declaring they have zero tolerance for racist, sexist or harmful comments.
"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," the team said. "Therefore, we will not be moving forward with this broadcaster."
The Portland franchise emphasized the importance of the play-by-play role, noting it carries a long legacy of excellence in both broadcasting and character.
"We hold that standard without exception," the statement read.
The organization also apologized to fans in Portland, often referred to as Rip City, for failing to vet their new hire properly.
"We did not meet our own bar in this process, and for that we apologize to Blazers fans and to Rip City," the team said. "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."
Offensive posts from 2012
The social media posts that led to Bell losing his job were shared in 2012 and 2013 on the account he currently uses for sports commentary.
In December 2012, Bell posted a racist message regarding Asian people.
"I'm not racist at all.. But not gonna lie.. Asian people p*** me off! Hahaha #honest," the post read.
He also shared multiple misogynistic posts. In November 2012, he wrote: "Gotta give a shoutout to all the big girls out there and those closet whores."
In February 2013, he posted: "We got a slut alert on aisle 10." Later that same month, he tweeted: "Girls these nights... Smh. #ThirstyForTheD."
According to the review by KGW, Bell's social media activity had shifted to focus almost entirely on sports by the end of 2015.
Search for a new broadcaster
Bell had been hired to replace Kevin Calabro, who served as the play-by-play voice for the Trail Blazers starting in 2016.
Calabro recently left Portland to join the Minnesota Timberwolves, a fellow Western Conference franchise. He departed after stating that the Trail Blazers had offered him a "subprime" contract to stay.
The Trail Blazers must now resume their search for a new lead broadcaster ahead of the upcoming NBA season.
Following his firing, Bell posted a lengthy apology on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, last Friday.
"I am deeply sorry for the language that I used on Twitter," Bell wrote. "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."
He acknowledged the ongoing harm caused by his words and expressed regret that the posts served as his introduction to many online.
"I can take solace in knowing that the people who truly know me understand that this is not the kind of person I am," he wrote. "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."
