FILE: The Moda Center, home to the Portland Trail Blazers basketball team, is shown in Portland, Ore., in 2014.
Don Ryan / AP
The Portland Trail Blazers fired their new play-by-play broadcast announcer on Thursday, just hours after announcing they had hired him.
The Blazers introduced announcer Braiden Bell just after noon, saying in a press release that he was “a great fit” and “an important voice for the next chapter of Trail Blazers basketball.”
While reporting on the story, KGW-TV reporter Devon Haskins uncovered racist and misogynist posts on Bell’s Twitter account from 2012 and 2013, when Bell was a teenager.
Haskins reached out to the team for comment on the tweets, and the Blazers replied by saying they fired Bell.
In a statement just after 8 p.m., the team said it would “not be moving forward with this broadcaster.
“The Portland Trail Blazers 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. 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,” they continued. “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 team did not immediately reply to a request for further comment on Friday morning.
