Rachel Nichols’ career at ESPN is likely over after the longtime NBA host was removed from coverage of the sport, and her weekday show “The Jump” has been canceled, the network confirmed Wednesday.
David Roberts, ESPN’s senior vice president of production, said in a statement that the sides “mutually agreed that this approach regarding our NBA coverage was best for all concerned.”
“Rachel is an excellent reporter, host and journalist, and we thank her for her many contributions to our NBA content,” he added.
Her former co-worker, Maria Taylor, who recently left the company for NBC seemingly reacted to the news on her Instagram story.
As you may remember, a leaked recording of a phone conversation between Nichols and Adam Mendelsohn made waves, which originally was recvorded during last year’s broadcast of the NBA Finals, when ESPN executives selected Maria Taylor over Rachel Nichols to be the primary host for the network’s coverage.
An unhappy Nichols discussed her frustration with not being chosen and Nichols expressed her opinion that Taylor got the assignment because of her race.
Click on ‘Follow Us’ and get notified of the most viral NBA stories via Google! Follow Us
“I wish Maria Taylor all the success in the world — she covers football, she covers basketball,” Nichols said in an audio excerpt published by the New York Times. “If you need to give her more things to do because you are feeling pressure about your crappy longtime record on diversity — which, by the way, I know personally from the female side of it — like, go for it. Just find it somewhere else. You are not going to find it from me or taking my thing away.”
