Rachel Nichols has been a prominent host on ESPN over the last few years as she has always been in the thick of the station’s NBA coverage. She is a host on The Jump and for the last few years, she has also been on NBA Countdown. Recently, Nichols was replaced on NBA Countdown by Maria Taylor, and back in July of 2020, Nichols was caught on tape saying some disparaging remarks about ESPN’s decision to hire Taylor.
The tape has been made public and in a huge New York Times expose, Nichols was exposed for what she said. Essentially, Nichols felt as though ESPN was forcing diversity by giving Taylor the NBA Countdown spot. Nichols also said she supports Taylor but didn’t want to have her own job taken away from her as a result of diversity in the workplace.
“I wish Maria Taylor all the success in the world — she covers football, she covers basketball,” Nichols 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.”
As a result of this bombshell report, Nichols has been the number one trending topic on Twitter all morning, and many are angered by what she had to say. In fact, some believe it’s going to be hard for her to continue working at ESPN, and that moving forward, they may have to let her go.
You can see some of the reactions to the news, below.