Rachel Nichols Let Go by ESPN From NBA Programming

By Tadi Abedje Published: August 25, 2021

Rachel Nichols Let Go by ESPN From NBA Programming

Source: Wibbitz

Rachel Nichols’ career in front of the television is coming to a close. David Roberts, ESPN’s senior vice president of production, made the announcement to John Ourand on the Sports Business Journal.

“We mutually agreed that this approach regarding our NBA coverage was best for all concerned,” Roberts said on SBJ. “Rachel is an excellent reporter, host and journalist, and we thank her for her many contributions to our NBA content.”

“The Jump” host confirmed the announcement on her Twitter page.

“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,” she tweeted.

Nichols started off her journalism career at the Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel covering sports and then at the Washington Post covering the Washington Capitals of the National Hockey League. She joined ESPN as a reporter in 2004 covering the NBA and NFL, but left in 2013 to go to CNN and Turner Sports, according to Yahoo Sports.

Nichols came back to ESPN in 2016 when her daily show “The Jump” was created. She was also involved in a controversy when a New York Times story was published in July about her conversation with LeBron James’ advisor Adam Mendelsohn. She said that ESPN gave Maria Taylor the job of hosting the 2020 NBA Finals coverage because of their lackluster performance on diversity.

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

“The Jump” will still air for the next couple of weeks without Nichols, but ESPN will replace the show with a new NBA show in the afternoon, according to SBJ.