The Rachel Nichols revelation shocked the NBA world last year when ESPN decided to cancel all her shows amid the 2021 NBA Finals
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Back in July 2021, when Giannis Antetokounmpo and his Milwaukee Bucks were trying to get their hands on the most prestigious award in the NBA, on the side-lines, Rachel Nichols, ESPN’s veteran journalist got herself involved in something that will turn her career around.
Not for good though. The accusations against her were too bad even for a journalist with that kind of experience. She was the host of The Jump and ESPN’s preferred pick for any sit-down interview with any and every NBA player.
Not only her show took over as Sports Illustrated’s ‘TV’s smartest basketball show’, her interviews became a standard for stars of the league to appear on.
Also read: 4x Bill Russell Finals MVP LeBron James Addresses Being Amongst The Last to Wear No.6
None of that mattered much when a tape of her leaked out, as it had the potential to doom her career for good.
With 26 years of experience under her belt at the time, Nichols was still one of the best ones out there, but she didn’t get the opportunity to cover ESPN’s Finals games in 2020. That’s where she went off.
Rachel Nichols lost her job for accusing Maria Taylor of getting her way because of her skin colour
Nichols lost her job at ESPN because of a leaked tape where she was accusing a fellow employee, Maria Taylor. The veteran journalist believed Maria’s race had something to do with her recent promotion and spoke about it too frankly with LeBron James’ former advisor Adam Mendelsohn.
“I wish Maria Taylor all the success in the world — she covers football, she covers basketball,” Nichols said, according to The New York Times.
ESPN has taken Rachel Nichols off its NBA programming and canceled “The Jump,” the daily basketball show she hosted, the network said. The news comes one month after The New York Times reported on disparaging comments made by Nichols about Maria Taylor. https://t.co/vOPSUKT9DJ
— The New York Times (@nytimes) August 25, 2021
She continued, “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 take my thing away.”
ESPN investigated the whole thing and decided to cancel all their shows with Nichols with immediate effect, alongside suspending an employee who was responsible for leaking that tape.
Also read: “I Was Being Spied Like Their Own Personal TV Show”: Rachel Nichols Relives Ugly Fallout With ESPN
Fans did obviously miss one of the most recurring faces in the NBA community, but they didn’t make much noise to bring back Rachel.
But they will get the chance to see her regularly once again, as she decided to join NBC recently and came up with her side of the story clearly for the first time.
