The Trail Blazers’ season opener is less than three weeks away, “leaving precious little time for the team to unravel its tangled broadcast mess” after firing new TV play-by-play commentator Braiden Bell, according to Joe Freeman of the Portland OREGONIAN. A source said that the Blazers viewed Bell as a “rising talent,” and “were blindsided Thursday when offensive, years-old social media posts authored by the 29-year-old were uncovered.” The discovery prompted the Blazers to “rescind their contract offer roughly eight hours after announcing Bell’s hire.” The Blazers “seemingly have four routes they can navigate moving forward.” Freeman wrote the Blazers could “completely reopen their search and consider a new batch of candidates, which seems unlikely given how little time remains in the offseason.” They could “add a temporary play-by-play commentator to call early-season games, freeing up more time to select a new, permanent broadcaster.” Freeman noted the team could also “offer the job” to former Kings play-by-play broadcaster Kyle Draper, who was a finalist in the original search. Or they could “slide Travis Demers — the team’s radio play-by-play voice — over to television” (Portland Oregonian, 10/2).
HAD A GOOD ONE: In Portland, Bill Oram wrote “we cannot lose sight of the fact that the Portland Trail Blazers did this entirely to themselves.” The team “did not need to hire a new play-by-play guy at all” as the organization “had a legendary broadcaster” in Kevin Calabro. Oram wrote the fact that Calabro was “immediately scooped up” by the T’Wolves should “tell you how much he is admired, revered and, yes, valued.” Oram: “At some point, you have to think that [Trail Blazers owner Tom] Dundon will learn that he gets what he pays for.” Dundon is “not responsible for Bell’s past statements,” but “when you prioritize savings at the cost of experience you assume the risk that comes with the inevitable dip in quality” (Portland OREGONIAN, 10/2).
MESSY JOB: Sportswriter John Canzano wrote the firing “amounts to a complete lack of oversight and due diligence by the Dundon-led Trail Blazers.” Canzano asked, “Why didn’t anyone at One Center Court bother to do a basic background check? Why didn’t anyone poke around his social media accounts?” (JOHNCANZANO.com, 10/3). THE ATHLETIC’s Jason Quick wrote if “anything has defined Dundon’s six-month tenure in Portland, it’s this: Everything he touches turns to controversy.” His fingerprints “aren’t directly on the messy hire” but the “tact and tenor of the move — rash, harsh and hasty — was how this organization has operated under Dundon.” Quick: “Perhaps the poor vetting was a byproduct of reduced staff?” (THE ATHLETIC, 10/2).
BAD LOOK: THE DESK’s Matthew Keys noted since the reporting from KGW-TV, the station has “faced immense criticism from its viewers, social media users and the broader sports and journalism communities over its handling of the story.” What Bell tweeted “was inappropriate, hurtful and wrong. But he was also 15.” Keys: “The bad actor is a television station whose journalists saw a scoop and went for it, without considering the ramifications that their actions might have — first on Bell, and later on their reputations.” Many are questioning why KGW-TV News Dir John Tierney and reporter Devon Haskins “felt the need to dig so far back into Bell’s social media accounts, and why the only evidence they turned up came from a time before Bell’s brain and maturity levels were fully formed” (THE DESK, 10/2).