On Thursday, Joe Freeman of The Oregonian and Oregon Live reported that the Portland Trail Blazers planned to hire Braiden Bell as the team’s new television play-by-play announcer.
By Thursday night, the Trail Blazers announced that Bell, formerly a broadcaster for the Phoenix Mercury, would not be moving forward in the role after concerning, years-old social media posts resurfaced.
“The Portland Trail Blazers have zero tolerance for racist, sexist, or harmful comments,” the team said in an official statement posted to Instagram and X. “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.”
— 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. 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.”
KGW reporter Devon Haskins first discovered Bell’s tweets and, while reporting on them, reached out to the Blazers for comment. Portland confirmed to Haskins that it had fired Bell.
According to Haskins, Bell posted several misogynistic and racist tweets in 2012 and 2013, when he was a teenager, and published the screenshots here.
“KGW viewed other tweets from Bell containing language that appeared misogynistic or racist from this time period, but in some cases the context could not be verified due other users’ accounts or linked content being inactive,” Haskins, Jared Cowley, and John Tierney additionally reported.
As of this writing, Bell’s social media accounts are now private.
In light of Bell’s firing, the Trail Blazers still need a play-by-play announcer to replace Kevin Calabro, who shined in the role for nine seasons. Calabro stepped away after “a low contract offer,” as reported by Jason Quick of The Athletic on July 22.
Portland’s clumsy handling of Bell is the latest in a string of poor optics and layoffs under new owner Tom Dundon, who’s never met a cost he didn’t cut.
About Megan Armstrong
Since first getting published as a student by the Kansas City Star in 2013, Megan Armstrong has gone wherever curiosity and stories have taken her, specializing in sports, media, music, and culture coverage. She also has an extensive background in interviewing and profiling public figures. Her work has appeared in Billboard, Boardroom, Bleacher Report, Esquire, GQ, GRAMMY.com, NYLON, Newsweek, Teen Vogue, The Hollywood Reporter, UPROXX, and elsewhere.