ESPN Removes Rachel Nichols From NBA Finals Broadcast Over Leaked Audio Drama Hours Before The Start Of Game 1

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  • On Sunday the NY Times released a leaked audio recording from July 2020 showing ESPN’s Rachel Nichols calling Maria Taylor a “diversity” hire after Taylor was awarded NBA Finals hosting job
  • Nichols apologized for the comment about Taylor during Monday’s edition of ‘The Jump’ but continued to receive backlash from viewers who though her apology was short and insincere
  • Hours before the start of game 1 ESPN decided to pull Nichols from the broadcast to prevent the leaked audio drama from becoming a distraction during the NBA Finals
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Rachel Nichols will not be working the NBA Finals after all.

Over the weekend the NY Times revealed that there was drama behind the scenes at ESPN after Nichols was heard calling NBA Countdown host Maria Taylor a “diversity” hire in a leaked audio recording.

On Monday, Nichols appeared on “The Jump” and apologized for his comments about Taylor but many felt her apology was too short and insincere.

Hours before the start of the NBA Finals on Tuesday, ESPN pulled Nichols and inserted Malika Andrews as the featured sideline reporter to prevent the Nichols situation from distracting from the Finals broadcast.

Jorge Alonso BroBible avatar
Brobible sports editor. Jorge is a Miami native and lifelong Heat fan. He has been covering the NBA, MLB and NFL professionally for almost 10 years, specializing in digital media.