ESPN removes Rachel Nichols from NBA Finals sideline coverage after leaked comments ESPN

ESPN removes Rachel Nichols from NBA Finals sideline coverage after leaked comments
ESPN benched reporter Rachel Nichols from covering the NBA Finals from the sidelines after a recording surfaced of her making disparaging comments about her colleague, Maria Taylor. 

In leaked audio, Nichols, who is White, reportedly criticized ESPN last year for choosing Taylor, who is Black, to report on the sidelines of the NBA Finals over her. 

"If you need to give her more things to do because you're feeling pressure about your crappy longtime record on diversity — which, by the way, I myself know personally — like, go for it, just find it somewhere else," the recording said, according to The New York Times. 

Nichols apologized on Monday's edition of "The Jump," a show she co-hosts on ESPN.  "I also don't want to let this moment pass without saying how deeply, deeply sorry I am for disappointing those I hurt, particularly Maria Taylor," she said. 

Instead of Nichols, reporter Malika Andrews will give sideline reports. The network said Nichols will still host "The Jump" during the NBA Finals. Taylor, a seven-year veteran of ESPN, is still scheduled to host the "NBA Countdown" for the finals. The series between the Milwaukee Bucks and Phoenix Suns begin Tuesday at 9 p.m. ET. 

In a statement, ESPN told CBS News its decision will keep the focus on basketball. 

Reaction to the controversy has been swift — not only targeting Nichols but also ESPN. 

"You don't see a lot of Black women in the role that Maria is in, she hears that 100 times a day. And so to hear that from a colleague, another woman, I can imagine that that would be very harmful and hurtful for her," Jemele Hill, a former ESPN host, recently told "CBS This Morning." 

Meanwhile, Mariah Rose, the daughter of ESPN host and former NBA star Jalen Rose, had this to say: "Maybe instead of crying and calling Maria a diversity token, you could direct that energy to the people who think there can only be one woman on that stage."

ESPN removes Rachel Nichols from NBA Finals sideline coverage after leaked recording
ESPN announced Tuesday it would move its longtime basketball reporter Rachel Nichols off sideline coverage of the NBA Finals amid controversy related to disparaging comments she made last year about her colleague Maria Taylor, CNBC reports.

Why it matters: The sports-media giant's decision comes two days after the New York Times published a leaked audio recording of Nichols suggesting the promotion of Taylor, who is Black, was because ESPN was "feeling pressure" on diversity.

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Nichols had reportedly not been disciplined for her comments about Taylor, which date back to July 2020, per CNBC.

What they're saying: "We believe this is [the] best decision for all concerned in order to keep the focus on the NBA Finals. Rachel will continue to host 'The Jump,'" the network said, per CNBC.

Nichols apologized for her comments Monday.

“The first thing they teach you in journalism school is don’t be the story, and I don’t plan to break that rule today or distract from a fantastic Finals,” Nichols said.

“But I also don’t want to let this moment pass without saying how much I respect, how much I value our colleagues here at ESPN, how deeply, deeply sorry I am for disappointing those I hurt, particularly Maria Taylor, and how grateful I am to be part of this outstanding team.”

What to watch: ESPN said Nichols will still appear on "The Jump" for the Finals games across its weekday shows.

Taylor will be on “NBA Countdown” with other channel reporters for pregame and halftime coverage of the NBA Finals, ESPN said, per CNBC.

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ESPN Bars Rachel Nichols From NBA Finals Sideline After Leaked Comments
Nichols, who is white, is in hot water for complaining that Maria Taylor was given an opportunity over her because she is Black.
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ESPN’s Rachel Nichols, the network’s star basketball reporter embroiled in a hot mic scandal, won’t be covering the NBA finals from the sidelines, the network said Tuesday. 

“We believe this is best decision for all concerned in order to keep the focus on the NBA Finals,” ESPN said in a statement, adding that Nichols will remain as host of “The Jump,” the network’s daily basketball show. The finals begin later on Tuesday between the Phoenix Suns and the Milwaukee Bucks.

The decision follows a damning report in The New York Times revealing turmoil at ESPN over comments that Nichols, who is white, made last year in an accidental recording. In the footage obtained by the Times, Nichols complained about ESPN selecting Maria Taylor, another host who is Black, to host the July 2020 NBA Finals pre- and post-game shows, making her the face of the network during that period. 

Nichols had sought the job, too, and accidentally recorded herself suggesting to representatives for NBA star LeBron James that Taylor was selected for the job because of her race. 

“I wish Maria Taylor all the success in the world — she covers football, she covers basketball,” Nichols said, according to the recording obtained by the 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.”

Nichols, who had a camera to film her segments from a hotel room in compliance with COVID-19 safety measures, had unwittingly recorded herself, and the footage went directly to ESPN headquarters in Connecticut. It was passed around by employees who had access to the servers, sparking an internal dialogue about the way white ESPN employees view their Black colleagues.

The incident transpired shortly after police killed George Floyd in Minneapolis, which set off a nationwide reckoning on issues of racism ― including those in sports, media and the workplace. 

Nichols apologized for her comments during Monday’s episode of “The Jump,” saying “how deeply, deeply sorry I am for disappointing those I hurt, particularly Maria Taylor, and how grateful I am to be a part of this team.”

Taylor, meanwhile, has increasingly criticized the network for its handling of race issues, and she is reportedly in a standoff with the network over renewing her contract, which expires later this month and could cause a disruption in ESPN’s NBA Finals coverage. 

ESPN removed Rachel Nichols from her role as the sideline reporter for the NBA Finals after the New York Times published an audio recording of Nichols making disparaging comments about colleague Maria Taylor.
Rachel Nichols Removed from NBA Finals Sideline Role After Comments on Maria Taylor
ESPN announced Rachel Nichols has been removed as a sideline reporter for the 2021 NBA Finals after the New York Times detailed a mistakenly recorded video in which Nichols discussed frustrations about Maria Taylor hosting pregame coverage for last year's Finals, a role Nichols expected to fill. 

"We believe this is [the] best decision for all concerned in order to keep the focus on the NBA Finals. Rachel will continue to host The Jump," ESPN said in a statement Tuesday, per Andrew Marchand of the New York Post.

Malika Andrews will replace Nichols on the sideline for the series between the Milwaukee Bucks and Phoenix Suns, which begins Tuesday night.

Nichols' frustrations were mostly aimed at ESPN during the July 2020 call, which she said had a "crappy longtime record on diversity," during a conversation with Adam Mendelsohn, an advisor to the Los Angeles Lakers' LeBron James. Nichols suggested the Finals hosting role was contractually hers.

"I just want them to go somewhere else—it's in my contract, by the way; this job is in my contract in writing," she said after saying the network was "feeling pressure" about racial diversity.

The video showcasing the call, which was mistakenly recorded while Nichols was working remotely in the NBA's Orlando bubble to complete the 2019-20 season, was captured on a cell phone by somebody at ESPN and was then quickly shared throughout the company. According to the Times, it sparked "fury" at the network.

Nichols, who is white, explained she didn't have a problem with moving Taylor, who is Black, into a more prominent role, but she didn't want it to happen at her expense.

"I wish Maria Taylor all the success in the world—she covers football, she covers basketball," she said. "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."

Taylor, who declined comment to the Times about the story, wrote an email to ESPN executives expressing concern her complaint was overlooked.

"I will not call myself a victim, but I certainly have felt victimized and I do not feel as though my complaints have been taken seriously," she wrote. "In fact, the first time I have heard from HR after two incidents of racial insensitivity was to ask if I leaked Rachel's tape to the media. I would never do that. ... Simply being a front facing black woman at this company has taken its toll physically and mentally."

The situation maintained a lingering effect throughout the 2020-21 season, with some members of the network's NBA coverage calling it an "active source of pain."

Instances where Nichols appeared on NBA Countdown, a show hosted by Taylor, were prerecorded to avoid interactions, and there were tensions between members of the NBA team, including Jalen Rose, Adrian Wojnarowski and Jay Williams, and network executives about how the situation was handled that caused ESPN President Jimmy Pitaro to become involved, according to Times sources. Wojnarowski, one of the network's most prominent NBA figures, called Nichols a "bad teammate."

Nichols was not punished for her remarks, a decision that came after "company executives expressed fears of a lawsuit from Nichols" given how the video was obtained and led to ESPN's parent company, Disney, getting involved in the discussions, according to the report.

Meanwhile, Nichols issued an apology to open Monday's edition of The Jump:

She's hosted the weekday show since 2016 along with her other work on ESPN's NBA coverage.

Taylor has hosted NBA Countdown since 2019 along with work on the company's college football, college basketball and volleyball cover