Rachel Nichols drops out of ABC’s NBA Finals coverage

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ESPN announced that Rachel Nichols, who was expected to be ABC’s side correspondent for the NBA Finals, will not be working in the role when the first game of the series ends Tuesday night. She will be replaced by Malika Andrews.

Nichols was the side reporter for the Finals last year and during the NBA’s most important games of the season. Both ABC and ESPN are owned by Disney.

Instead, the decision to make Andrews the fringe reporter was made after the New York Times reported that Nichols, who is white, made derogatory comments about fellow blacks, Maria Taylor, last year. Among other things, Nichols said Taylor was chosen to host coverage of the NBA Finals last season because ESPN was “feeling pressured” about diversity.

The comments were accidentally captured on camera and uploaded to a server at the company’s headquarters in Bristol, Connecticut, and then spread widely among ESPN employees.

“I wish Maria Taylor all the success in the world – she covers football, she covers basketball,” Nichols said in July 2020. “If you need to give her more things to do because you feel pressured about your long poor record in diversity. – which, by the way, I know personally from the female side of it – like, go for it. Just find it elsewhere. my things.”

Nichols will host episodes of “The Jump” at the location throughout the finals. Nichols has hosted this show, ESPN’s daily NBA show, since 2016.

Nichols has publicly commented on the recording and what she said about Taylor for the first time on Monday’s episode of “The Jump.”

She kept her comments brief, saying she didn’t want to be a distraction from the escalation in the NBA season. But Nichols added that she “didn’t want to let this moment pass without saying how much I respect, how much I value our colleagues here at ESPN, and how deeply sorry I have disappointed those I have hurt, especially Maria Taylor, and how grateful I am to be part of such an outstanding team.” .

She was joined on the show by Kendrick Perkins and Richard Jefferson, two black former NBA players who regularly play The Jump. Perkins thanked Nichols for “taking charge” and added that he knew her heart and that she was “a great person, a great individual.” He said Taylor was a great person, too.

Taylor will host episodes of “NBA Countdown,” ESPN’s pre-match show and game run, during the finals. But if the finals, between the Phoenix Suns and the Milwaukee Bucks, go into Game Seven, ESPN may have a dilemma to solve. Taylor’s contract with ESPN expires near the end of the finals, and so far neither side has finalized the renewal.

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