ESPN Analysts Might Boycott Over Rachel Nichols Racist Remark Vs. Maria Taylor

Rachel Nichols, the ESPN host who went viral over a racist remark towards Maria Taylor, is still making headlines. Several of ESPN's top NBA experts have shown interest in boycotting this year's playoffs due to the company's handling of the situation.

According to Nichols, ESPN allegedly hired Taylor as the host of "NBA Countdown" in 2020 because she is black. The video went viral on social media, prompting many people to cancel their subscriptions to the station.

The New York Times obtained and posted a video of Nichols conversing on the phone with Mendelsohn during her confinement in an Orlando hotel in July of last year. Following the resumption of the NBA's bubble season, officials imposed the quarantine.

"I wish Maria Taylor all the success in the world — she covers football, she covers basketball," Nichols is heard saying. "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," she went on to add.

According to the publication, Nichols had a camera set up in her room, which was connected to record back to ESPN's headquarters in Bristol. The camera was intended to assist Nichols in presenting "The Jump" while she was quarantined in her hotel room. According to the New York Times, most of the network concluded Nichols did not properly turn off the camera.

The New York Times added EPSN kept the recording in one of its servers, which many workers could access. The talk was then captured on a cell phone and transmitted to others by an anonymous employee. The recording was eventually released and made its way to the said media outlet.

"I just want them to go somewhere else — it's in my contract, by the way; this job is in my contract in writing," she is heard talking further.

According to the Times, many Black ESPN employees believe the dialogue suggests that things spoken in private reflect a non-supportive attitude toward them that is never publicly articulated.

Nichols claimed on the video that those same folks "who are generally white conservative male Trump voters," are among the reasons why she had "a hard time" at ESPN. She went on to say that she had "outworked" everyone for so long that management had no choice but to notice it.

"I don't want to then be a victim of them trying to play catch-up for the same damage that affected me in the first place, you know what I mean. So I'm trying to just be nice."

Meanwhile, Taylor told ESPN executives that she would not finish covering the NBA season after the footage went viral. She changed her mind after the network agreed to pre-record Nichols' sideline reporting portions and broadcast them as if they were live so she wouldn't have to speak with Taylor on-air. According to the New York Times, Taylor claimed ESPN had broken its agreement by airing live parts with Nichols that did not feature conversations with Taylor.

As the NBA playoffs approached in May, ESPN NBA production management notified the "NBA Countdown" team that if Taylor continued to refuse to contact with Nichols, no other sideline reporters, including three Black women, would appear live. The Wrap said the decision drew criticism from the show's on-air panel, which included commentators and former NBA players Jalen Rose and Jay Williams and ESPN's top insider Adrian Wojnarowski.

The limits were lifted after many phone calls between network president Jimmy Pitaro and the show's panel. Taylor's contract is slated to expire this month, so the damage may already be done. According to the New York Times, "it's becoming increasingly likely that those could be her final weeks at the network."

Nichols claimed that her remarks were meant to be kept private between her and Mendelsohn and Paul. She explained they were made out of displeasure with ESPN rather than Taylor.

"My own intentions in that conversation, and the opinion of those in charge at ESPN, are not the sum of what matters here — if Maria felt the conversation was upsetting, then it was, and I was the cause of that for her," she said.