Rachel Nichols Made Mariah Taylor Dig ‘Diversity’ In Secret ESPN Video

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Rachel Nichols’ secretly recorded phone conversation was leaked last July, and it’s creating major problems for ESPN.

In a heartbreaking New York Times story, an audio clip from Nichols’ video reveals her dissatisfaction with being given Maria Taylor the duties of hosting the NBA Finals last year, and she believes the color of her skin has a lot to do with it. Nichols is white and Taylor — whose future is uncertain at the network as they look for a big raise, reports Andrew Marchand of The Post — are black.

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“I wish Maria Taylor all the success in the world — she covers football, she covers basketball,” Nichols said last July, according to a video obtained by The Times. “If you need to give her more things to do because you’re feeling pressured about your long, poor record in diversity — which, by the way, I know personally from the female side of it — like, look for it. Just find it somewhere else. You won’t find it from me or take my things.”

“I just want them to go somewhere else – by the way, this is in my contract; this job is written in my contract,” she added.

The conversation, heard by those who worked for ESPN, had never been publicized before. The Times reported that several black ESPN employees said the conversation reinforced their belief that white people in the network who support publicly do not behave in the same way in private.

The comments came in a conversation with Adam Mendelsohn, LeBron James’ advisor and agent Rich Paul. Mendelson Nichols warned that ESPN is a “snake pit,” and they need to be careful.

“Those same people – like conservative white voters in general – are part of the reason I had such a hard time with ESPN,” Nichols said during the taped conversation. “I’ve finally worked out more than everyone else for so long that they had to get to know her. Then I don’t want to be a victim of them trying to do the same damage that affected me in the first place, you know I mean. So I’m just trying to be nice.”

ESPN declined to comment on the matter. Contacted by The Times, Nichols said she reached out to Taylor, but got no response. Nichols said she was expressing herself to a friend about her frustration, not with Taylor, but with ESPN.

“My intentions in that conversation, and the opinions of ESPN officials, aren’t the sum of what matters here — if Maria felt the conversation was annoying, then it was, and I was the reason for it to her,” she said.

An ESPN source told The Times ESPN that the decision to punish Nichols was an “active source of pain” and remains a point of discussion among co-workers. It didn’t reduce Nichols’ job either. She was a side reporter for the NBA’s hottest matches on the network and has remained the host of “The Jump”. So Taylor and Nichols didn’t have to interact, and Nichols’ appearance on “NBA Countdown” wasn’t recorded live. Other reporters on the sidelines have recorded some of their appearances live.

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Prior to the playoffs, ESPN decided that all incoming “NBA Countdown” side reporters would be barred from live interviews, unless Taylor Nichols had them live. This led to a staff blowout on May 22, with Adrian Wojnarowski calling Nichols a bad teammate, and Taylor sparking a taped phone conversation and saying that the only ESPN sanctioned employees were women of color. The restrictions were eventually lifted by the end of the day.

But now, with Taylor’s contract expiring on or around July 20 and Nichols’ comments made public, ESPN is dealing with an internal storm that appears to be getting worse.

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