The NBA’s Portland Trail Blazers fired new play-by-play TV announcer Braiden Bell just hours after he was hired.
The Blazers fired Bell after his misogynist and racist tweets were discovered by a news reporter.
Bell, a former play-by-play announcer for the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury, was hired and fired on the same day.
The 29-year-old is a former NBA G-league Valley Suns announcer and worked with ESPN and other outlets for 8 years.
The offensive tweets were written when Bell was 14 or 15-years-old and still in high school.
“I’m not racist at all.. But not gonna lie.. Asian people piss me off! Hahaha #Honest,” the teenager wrote in a post on Dec. 9, 2012.
He wrote in another post: “Gotta give a shoutout to all the big girls out there and those closet wh*res.”
“We got a slut alert on aisle 10,” the teen wrote on Feb. 13, 2013. In another tweet, he mentioned “no blacks” with the hashtag #racist.
KGW News reporter Devon Haskins uncovered Bell’s old tweets and contacted the Blazers for a comment. The Blazers responded by confirming Bell was no longer with the organization.
“The Portland Trail Blazers have zero tolerance for racist, sexist, or harmful comments,” the Blazers said in a statement on Thursday. “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 team admitted they did not properly vet Bell before he was hired to replace veteran announcer Kevin Calabro – the voice of the Blazers for 10 years. Calabro is now play-by-play announcer for the Minnesota Timberwolves.
The NY Post reported the tweets Bell made when he was in high school had not been deleted as of late Thursday, Oct. 1.