PORTLAND, Ore. (KATU) — The play-by-play broadcaster who was fired by the Portland Trail Blazers after years-old racist and misogynistic Tweets surfaced has broken his silence to apologize for his posts.
It was just Thursday morning that the Portland Trail Blazers announced that they hired 29-year-old Braiden Bell to be the team’s television play-by-play broadcaster for the 2026-27 season.
Hours later, after the questionable tweets were uncovered, the Blazers announced that they would not be moving forward with Bell’s employment.
READ MORE | Blazers fire new play-by-play broadcaster Braiden Bell after racist tweets discovered
Bell temporarily put his Twitter account on private before posting his apology just after 3:35 p.m. on Friday.
“I am deeply sorry for the language that I used on Twitter. These tweets, while wrong, were written by me 14 years ago while I was only 15 years old and have no reflection of who I am today. I do not take lightly any harm it causes now. I regret this being my first impression to many of you online, but I can take solace in knowing that the people who truly know me understand that this is not the kind of person I am. Again, I’d like to apologize to anyone who was hurt by my words and will continue to always treat people with kindness and respect.”
Bell’s comments were found in posts from 2012 and 2013.
Bell was fired by the Blazers to call the games along television analyst Lamar Hurd, who is returning for an 11th season.
Most recently, Bell called plays for the Phoenix Mercury and the NBA G League’s Valley Suns. He also called Division I games for Arizona State University and California Baptist University.
Aside from its initial statement on Bell’s firing, the Trail blazers have not made any additional remarks.