Over the weekend, the Portland Trail Blazers fired broadcaster Braiden Bell after derogatory tweets from his teenage years resurfaced. The tweets attacked the Asian American and Pacific Islander community as well as women.
On Monday, Bell officially announced that he was hiring legal counsel to push for reinstatement, per Chris Haynes of NBA on Prime. He issued a statement through his counsel.
“Braiden is not asking anyone to excuse what he wrote,” said Bell's counsel Arnie Herz. “He has owned it, without excuses. What he is asking is whether a boy's words from fourteen years ago should outweigh everything the man has done since. If that is the standard, there is hardly a person in any organization in America who could meet it. Accountability means owning what you did and showing who you have become. Braiden has done both.”
In the statement, his counsel cited the Trail Blazers as an organization that extends second chances in years past.
Furthermore, Bell said through his counsel that he doesn't harbor any ill will towards the reporters at KGW, the station that first discovered the tweets. He specifically cited KGW reporter Devon Haskins and news director John Tierney.
“If we are asking for grace for Braiden, we have to extend it to everyone,” Herz said.
He concluded that Bell will not be taking any questions at this time. He also said all media inquiries should be directed to his counsel.
Bell, 29, was let go the same day he was hired as the Blazers' new play-by-play announcer.