The organization scrapped the hiring of Kevin Calabro’s successor in record time after a reporter uncovered offensive social media posts, prompting a public apology for the vetting failure.
The Portland Trail Blazers announced their new television play-by-play voice Thursday afternoon.
By Thursday night … Braiden Bell was out.
Portland fired Bell hours after naming him Kevin Calabro’s replacement, after KGW uncovered social media posts from 2012 and 2013 containing derogatory comments about women and Asian people.
Bell was around 15 years old when the posts were made, according to the outlet. The posts remained publicly accessible Thursday evening on the same X account Bell continued to use for sports commentary.
Reporter Devon Haskins found the posts while covering Bell’s hiring and contacted the Blazers for comment Thursday afternoon. Several hours later, Portland informed the station that it would no longer move forward with Bell.
“The Portland Trail Blazers have zero tolerance for racist, sexist, or harmful comments,” the organization said in a statement. The team said the posts violated team and league policies — along with its “values and expectations.”
Portland also addressed the process that led to Bell’s hiring.
“We did not meet our own bar in this process, and for that we apologize to Blazers fans and to Rip City,” the team said.
Only hours earlier, President of Business Operations Dewayne Hankins had introduced Bell as Portland’s choice for the position. Hankins praised Bell’s energy and passion, calling him a “great fit for where we’re headed and an important voice for the next chapter of Trail Blazers basketball.”
Bell never called a game for Portland.
The outlet also provided additional context surrounding the posts. Its review did not locate offensive posts from Bell after he became an adult. By the latter half of 2015, his public posts were almost entirely about sports.
Bell had called select Phoenix Mercury games and served as the play-by-play voice of the G League’s Valley Suns. His previous broadcasting work also included Arizona State, California Baptist, ESPN+ and SiriusXM.
His hiring had filled the television opening left by Calabro, who departed Portland during the summer and has since joined the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Changes to Portland’s broadcast operation have also not stopped with the television booth.
Sean Highkin reported on Bluesky that longtime radio play-by-play voice Travis Demers will continue calling games because iHeart agreed to pay his salary instead of the team. Highkin described Demers’ new compensation as a significant reduction from what he previously made with the Blazers.
Demers also will not travel with the team — instead calling road games remotely off a monitor, according to Highkin.
Portland now has another television play-by-play vacancy to fill.
The Blazers have not announced who will take Bell’s place or what comes next in the search.
