Rachel Nichols Removed from ESPN’s NBA Coverage, ‘The Jump’ Canceled
About a month and a half after Rachel Nichols’ controversial comments leaked, ESPN is parting ways with the host when it comes to its coverage of the NBA, Variety reports.
That also includes canceling her show, The Jump, which aired weekdays. “We mutually agreed that this approach regarding our NBA coverage was best for all concerned,” David Roberts, senior vice president for NBA production at ESPN, said in a statement. “Rachel is an excellent reporter, host and journalist, and we thank her for her many contributions to our NBA content.”
Nichols addressed the cancellation of the show, which premiered in 2016, in a tweet as the news broke. “Got to create a whole show and spend five years hanging out with some of my favorite people talking about one my favorite things,” she wrote. “An eternal thank you to our amazing producers & crew – The Jump was never built to last forever but it sure was fun.” She also promised “More to come.”
That could be referring to what’s left of her contract with ESPN, which the network “is expected to honor,” according to Variety, “but her future assignments at the network remain unknown.” She joined ESPN in 2004.
Got to create a whole show and spend five years hanging out with some of my favorite people ❤️ talking about one my favorite things 🏀 An eternal thank you to our amazing producers & crew – The Jump was never built to last forever but it sure was fun. 😎
More to come… pic.twitter.com/FPMFRlfJin— Rachel Nichols (@Rachel__Nichols) August 25, 2021
This comes following the leak of a phone conversation between Nichols and Adam Mendelsohn about Maria Taylor hosting NBA Finals coverage. “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.”
Nichols then apologized and was removed as the sideline reporter for the NBA Finals. Taylor has since joined NBC Sports, leaving ESPN behind.
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