Portland Trail Blazers

The Trail Blazers found themselves under scrutiny on Thursday night when screenshots emerged showing Braiden Bell, the man the organization recruited to be its next play-by-play announcer, making racist and sexist comments on social media as a teenager.

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Portland summarily sacked the broadcaster hours after announcing that it had hired him. Predictably, the transaction took social media by storm.

Here’s what you need to know.

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Why Trail Blazers fired new broadcaster hours after hiring him

The Blazers enlisted Bell to replace broadcasting great Kevin Calabro, who left Portland after receiving a derisory extension offer from Tom Dundon during the offseason.

The franchise announced that Bell, 29, would serve as the team’s primary play-by-play man on Thursday.

“We’re excited to welcome Braiden to Rip City,” said team president Dewayne Hankins. “What stood out throughout this process was his energy and passion. He understands that great play-by-play is about being authentic and bringing our fans closer to the team. He’s a great fit for where we’re headed and an important voice for the next chapter of Trail Blazers basketball.”

Hours after announcing the hire of the former Phoenix Mercury and G League Valley Suns broadcaster, screenshots of racist and sexist tweets Bell posted as a teenager sprawled across social media.

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The Portland Trail Blazers hired and fired Braiden Bell on the same day!

The TV play-by-play broadcaster (replacing the great Kevin Calabro) was fired for tweets he made when he was 15 years old. pic.twitter.com/rAMKP2e4Pc

— Ballislife.com (@Ballislife) October 2, 2026

Portland announced that the social media posts violated team and league rules on personal conduct. The Blazers subsequently announced that they had opted against moving forward with their agreement to bring Bell into their ranks.

pic.twitter.com/04Mr0bviK3

— Portland Trail Blazers (@trailblazers) October 2, 2026

«The play-by-play role carries a long legacy of excellence, on the broadcast and in character, and we hold that standard without exception,» the franchise said in a statement. «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.»

Portland didn’t provide a timeline for when it would secure a play-by-play replacement for Bell.

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