The ongoing fallout from Rachel Nichols’ beef with Maria Taylor took a new turn on Wednesday when ESPN opted to cancel ‘The Jump’ remove Nichols from NBA programming.
Several months ago audio leaked out of Nichols griping that her then ESPN co-worker, Taylor, was encroaching on her territory at the company.
Even though Nichols was recorded without her consent, she quickly emerged as something of a villain in the eyes of many in the NBA-watching community. Even Taylor, who has since departed ESPN, seems to continue to hold a grudge.
The fallout from the entire situation was intense. Kevin Durant went scorched Earth on Nichols in the aftermath, and bizarre rumors began to leak out about the married ESPN reporter being involved in romantic relationships with NBA stars. It got very ugly, very quickly.
On Wednesday, things finally reached their logical conclusion when ESPN Senior VP David Roberts confirmed to John Ourand of Sports Business Journal that Nichols was officially getting pulled from the air.
“We mutually agreed that this approach regarding our NBA coverage was best for all concerned,” Roberts said. “Rachel is an excellent reporter, host and journalist, and we thank her for her many contributions to our NBA content.”
Nichols then issued her response on Twitter.
“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,” she tweeted out.
Trey Lance’s GF knows how to make a first impression. https://t.co/V8FvncNUNp
— Game 7 (@game7__) August 23, 2021
Where all parties involved go from here remains to be seen. Nichols, although she is disliked by some, still has some big fans in the NBA community. Upon winning his first ever NBA title, Giannis Antetokounmpo went out of his way to give her a special gift.
It really wouldn’t be too surprising at all to see Nichols bounce back and land on her feet sooner rather than later.
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A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
