Fired Blazers broadcaster Braiden Bell apologizes after old tweets cost him job in 1 day

Former Portland Trail Blazers play-by-play broadcaster Braiden Bell apologized on social media Friday, a day after the team announced both his hiring and firing.

The Blazers let Bell go after a series of offensive tweets resurfaced, having first been published between 2012 and 2013 when Bell was in high school. The tweets included statements such as "Asian people piss me off" and "we got a sl** alert on aisle 10."

Bell apologized for the language while noting his age at the time. His full apology :

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. -Braiden Bell

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.

The Blazers hired Bell after he had spent two seasons with the WNBA's Phoenix Mercury, along with past experience in the college ranks. Blazers president of business operations Dewayne Hankins was quoted in a release Thursday as saying Bell was "a great fit for where we're headed and an important voice for the next chapter of Trail Blazers basketball."

All announcements of Bell's hire have since been taken down. Later Friday, the Blazers released a statement denouncing Bell's posts :

The Portland Trail Blazers have zero tolerance for racist, sexist, or harmful comments. Social media posts made by our recently announced play-by-play broadcaster are in clear violation of team and league policies, as well as our values and expectations. Therefore, we will not be moving forward with this broadcaster. The play-by-play role carries a long legacy of excellence, on the broadcast and in character, and we hold that standard without exception. We did not meet our own bar in this process, and for that we apologize to Blazers fans and to Rip City. We believe strongly that everyone who is a part of Rip City should feel welcome and safe and we will make sure that our new broadcaster reflects these values. We will do better.

The Portland Trail Blazers have zero tolerance for racist, sexist, or harmful comments. Social media posts made by our recently announced play-by-play broadcaster are in clear violation of team and league policies, as well as our values and expectations. Therefore, we will not be moving forward with this broadcaster.

The play-by-play role carries a long legacy of excellence, on the broadcast and in character, and we hold that standard without exception. We did not meet our own bar in this process, and for that we apologize to Blazers fans and to Rip City. We believe strongly that everyone who is a part of Rip City should feel welcome and safe and we will make sure that our new broadcaster reflects these values. We will do better.

The matter of the Blazers' play-by-play announcer was already a source of some embarrassment for the team. That job was only open due to the departure of longtime broadcaster Kevin Calabro , who said he left after receiving a "subprime" offer for his new contract with the team.

The most recent developments leave the Blazers without a permanent play-by-play broadcaster with preseason set to begin Wednesday and the regular season on Oct. 21.