Rachel Nichols will not be part of ESPN’s NBA Finals coverage this year, as the company announced Tuesday. The announcement came on the heels of a New York Times article made public two days prior that detailed Nichols disparaging her fellow colleague, Maria Taylor, in an audio recording.
“We have been monitoring Rachel’s conversations and wanted to let her know that we were aware of some of the criticism she has received in social media comments,” said ESPN President Jimmy Pitaro. “Rachel is a valued colleague and doing a great job for us. Her previous statements were never meant to be disparaging towards any other colleagues. Rachel recognizes that and has proactively reached out on multiple occasions to apologize for any unintentional harm caused by her remarks. We fully accept Rachel’s apologies and hope everyone will give her the respect she deserves going forward.”
The New York Times article was written by Richard Sandomir, who stated that Nichols agreed to sit down to record a podcast with Taylor to discuss the role of women in broadcasting during August. As part of a larger discussion about workplace conduct, Nichols shared her own issues with Taylor seemingly being promoted above her on the network’s NBA coverage despite both holding play-by-play roles.
In the recording, Nichols said that she was “furious” when ESPN hired Taylor for its N.B.A. studio show over her and described their job as a “dream job.” Rachel added: “I mean, I literally feel like she is doing it because she is young and black … Rachel can do play-by-play; Rachel has proven that she can do game analysis, and what they want to be now is, like, sexy eye candy there. I mean, she’s young, she’s black — and that’s what they want to be over there. Rachel should have had that job; Rachel deserved it.”
Nichols, who has been a part of ESPN since 2004, also commented on how the company appeared to favor Taylor over her based on race: “I know people will go crazy when I say this, but ESPN kind of is like the Trump White House … They wanted their own Rachel Tebow [another sports analyst] for NBA coverage. That was their Rachel Tebow — that was going to be the person that they put forward … And so for ESPN it was more about hiring an African-American woman than necessarily hiring Rachel Nichols.”
Nichols later apologized to Taylor and on ESPN as well. She had been a sideline reporter during the NBA Finals since 2016, but her role this year will be filled by Jemele Hill, who has previously served in the same position, and Michael Eaves.
While some have defended Nichols for speaking out about alleged unfair treatment at ESPN, others have condemned her comments: “There has always been an issue with Rachel taking shots at other people especially black women behind closed doors even if they are better than her at their job… Rachel should not forget she is Rachel because someone else is African American. Rachel was a mediocre analyst whose work ethic was nonexistent until she became friends with Michelle Beadle. Rachel Nichols is Rachel Nichols because Rachel Nichols worked harder than anyone to get Rachel Nichols there.”
Others have pointed out that Yashar Ali, the journalist who wrote the New York Times article quoting various audio recordings he made available online, has been criticized by multiple journalists for releasing those comments without consent from all parties involved: “People reaching out to me asking if I’m worried about backlash on Rachel Nichols transcripts after what happened with ESPN and Jimmy Butler. Personally? No. But also don’t know this publication or reporter at all so can’t speak beyond my own experience with them.”