Hired and Fired the Same Day: Portland's New Play-by-Play Voice Is Already Gone

Braiden Bell's time as the voice of the Portland Trail Blazers lasted less than a day. The team announced him as its new play-by-play announcer, then fired him Thursday after old social media posts surfaced.

The posts, found by a reporter at KGW in Portland, included Bell writing that he was "not racist" but "Asian people piss me off," along with several misogynistic comments. They were reportedly written in 2012 and 2013, when Bell was about 15.

The Portland Trail Blazers have zero tolerance for racist, sexist, or harmful comments.

The team also owned its part. "We did not meet our own bar in this process, and for that we apologize to Blazers fans and to Rip City," it said. "We will do better." Bell, now 29, and his agent didn't respond to requests for comment.

How the job opened

Bell had spent the last two years calling games for the WNBA's Phoenix Mercury and the G League's Valley Suns. He was hired to replace Kevin Calabro, who had the job from 2016 until July, when he left after what he told The Oregonian was a "subprime" contract offer.

That departure has been tied to the approach of new owner Tom Dundon, whose cost-cutting has drawn criticism. Over the summer, Dundon also insisted that only public money pay for the planned $600 million renovation of the team's arena.

With the season less than a month away, Portland is back to searching for someone to call its games, and this time the vetting will get a closer look.