BLAZERS FIRE BRAIDEN BELL HOURS AFTER HIRING HIM AS ANNOUNCER

The Portland Trail Blazers fired Braiden Bell as their play-by-play broadcaster on Thursday, only hours after announcing his appointment. The decision followed the emergence of social media posts Bell had made as a teenager, reported to contain racist and misogynistic comments.

The team said it operates a "zero tolerance" policy for racist, sexist or harmful comments. The Trail Blazers are now searching for a new play-by-play announcer.