Braiden Bell has issued his first public comments since being fired by the Portland Trail Blazers for making offensive social media posts when he was a teenager.
“I am deeply sorry for the language I used on Twitter,” Bell wrote Friday afternoon on Twitter. “These tweets, while false, were written by me 14 years ago when I was just 15 and do not reflect who I am today. I do not take lightly the harm they cause now. I regret that this is my first impression towards many of you online, but I can take comfort in knowing that people who truly know me understand that this is not the type of person I am. Again, I would “I apologize to anyone who was hurt by my words and I will continue to always treat people with kindness and respect.”
The apology came a day after Bell was hired — and quickly fired — as the Blazers’ new television play-by-play broadcaster.
He was supposed to supplant veteran Kevin Calabro as the face of the Blazers’ telecasts, joining forces with the return of color analyst Lamar Hurd on a new-look broadcast.
But after the franchise officially announced Bell’s hiring around noon, KGW uncovered a series of social media posts from 2012 and 2013 in which Bell expressed racist and misogynistic views about Asians and women.
About eight hours after the comments came to light, the Blazers opted to rescind their contract offer, effectively ending his brief and controversial tenure with the team.
Gn sports
