A bombshell New York Times report revealed tension at ESPN over comments Rachel Nichols made about Maria Taylor.
Nichols made comments in 2020 after being told that Taylor would be hosting coverage of the NBA Finals instead of her. Nichols asked LeBron James’ longtime advisor Adam Mendelsohn for advice on allegedly accidentally recording a call because Nichols hadn’t turned her video camera off.
“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,” Nichols can be heard saying on the call.
The recorded call was stored on an ESPN server and eventually recorded by another employee who sent it to their colleagues. The call was widely circulated within the company before being leaked to the Times and Deadspin.
The only employee to be disciplined thus far is Kayla Johnson, a digital video producer, who sent the call to Taylor. The employee, who is black, was suspended for two weeks without pay and faced other consequences at work, according to Yahoo!Sports. Nichols told the outlet that ESPN informed her the content “of the conversation didn’t warrant any discipline.”
Employees at ESPN say the lack of repercussion for Nichols remains an “active source of pain.” Taylor reportedly declined to host NBA Countdown during the finals after the call leaked. She later agreed to participate is Nichols did not appear on the show. ESPN agreed to the condition and then reneged by airing pre-recorded segments with Nichols almost immediately.
ESPN threatened to pre-record every reporters’ segment, which caused tempers to flare on a preshow call between the show’s commentators of Taylor, Jalen Rose, Adrian Wojnarowski, and Jay Williams with ESPN executives. The network began allowing all sideline reporters to air live segments during NBA Countdown.
Taylor’s contract is set to expire in a few weeks, and so far, the network has taken few steps to renew it.
Rachel Nichols: “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.” pic.twitter.com/aB5MifujuX
— philip lewis (@Phil_Lewis_) July 4, 2021
