Portland Trail Blazers’ new announcer’s tenure lasted only hours. But the fallout is still growing. After the franchise hired Braiden Bell and then fired him on the same day over offensive social media posts from his teenage years. Bell has now made a formal push to return to the broadcast booth.
His decision to seek instatement adds another complication to an offseason already marked by major changes inside the organization.
NBA reporter Chris Haynes reported that Bell has hired legal counsel and is asking the Trail Blazers for reinstatement. Attorney Arnie Herz said Bell is not asking anyone to excuse what he posted as a teenager. But wants the organization to consider what he has done since.
“Accountability means owning what you did and showing who you have become,” Hertz said, adding that Bell has done both. Bell also said he loves the game, loves the city and wants to be someone Rip City can be proud of.
The saga began on October 1, when the Blazers announced Bell as its new television play-by-play announcer. Hours later, KGW reporter Devon Haskins uncovered racist and misogynistic posts from 2012 and 2013, when Bell was about 15.
Braiden Bell’s appointment had already been part of a significant change in the Blazers’ broadcast operation.
His broadcasting resume includes work with Cal Baptist, Arizona State, the Phoenix Mercury and the Valley Suns. His reinstatement request represents an attempt to preserve a career opportunity he had earned.
Meanwhile, the team must reconcile that request with the standards it says the original posts violated.
The team brought him in to replace Kevin Calabro, who had served as the team’s television voice since 2016 before leaving after contract negotiations broke down. Calabro reportedly described the extension offer as “sub prime,” and he has since accepted a broadcasting role with the Timberwolves.
Bell’s reinstatement push comes as the preseason approaches. The Blazers will play their first exhibition game against the Warriors. It leaves the franchise with a broadcast position that was filled, emptied, and is now being contested within days.
The young announcer’s legal team is asking the organization to reverse the firing, while the Trail Blazers have already acknowledged that the hiring should never have happened without a proper review of his past. That leaves Portland dealing with two separate failures at once: the offensive posts that prompted the firing and the vetting process that allowed Bell to be hired despite those posts.
Bell’s drama comes amid a broader Blazers reset
The franchise began reshaping the broadcast department before Bell entered the picture. In July, the Blazers laid off the majority of its broadcast team, including longtime analyst Michael Holton, hosts Neil Everett and Jamie Hudson, and analytics expert Tom Haberstroh.
Those cuts followed Tom Dundon’s takeover and a broader restructuring across the organization.
Dundon’s ownership group received NBA approval in March and completed the purchase shortly afterward. That makes Bell’s situation part of a larger transition for the franchise, with the television operation among the most visible areas to undergo change.
At the same time, the team on court also had a major shift.
The Blazers went 42-40 last season and reached the playoffs before adding Ja Morant to a roster that also features Deni Avdija, Jrue Holiday, and Scoot Henderson. New head coach Micah Nori now faces a crowded backcourt, but the additions have created substantial excitement around the team.
The Blazers’ preseason opener against the Warriors is Wednesday, leaving little time to settle the television situation. The team has plenty happening on the court. Bell’s challenge ensures the organization’s biggest offseason drama is still playing out away from it.
For Braiden Bell, reinstatement would provide the second chance he is seeking. For the Blazers, the decision now carries a difficult balance between standing by its response to the old posts and confronting the vetting failure that allowed the hiring to happen in the first place.