Trail Blazers sack new broadcaster hours after hiring over offensive posts

The Portland Trail Blazers have let go of their newly appointed TV broadcaster just hours after announcing the appointment.

The Trail Blazers appointed Braiden Bell on Thursday, October 1, but within hours of the announcement, they fired him from the assignment.

The franchise details the reasons behind the move over Bell’s past misogynistic and racist social media posts he shared on Twitter when he was a teenager.

Earlier, the announcement confirming Bell’s appointment reads, “He understands that great play-by-play is about being authentic and bringing our fans closer to the team.”

Bells joined the Portland from the Phoenix Mercury, where he was the WNBA team’s play-by-play broadcaster.

The tweets cover the time period between 2012 and 2013 and were first reported by an NBC affiliate KGW reporter, Devon Haskins.

When the reporter reached out to the franchise for comment while working on the story, the team responded after several hours with the announcement that they had fired Bell, the outlet reported.

Bell had replaced long-time play-by-play announcer Kevin Calabro, who was associated with the team since 2016.

The Blazers' first preseason game is scheduled for October 7 against the Golden State Warriors at the Moda Centre.

The regular season will kick off on October 21, when the Blazers play host to the Phoenix Suns.