After a Controversial Departure from ESPN, Rachel Nichols Joins Showtime

Rachel Nichols is back on television a whole year after the high-profile cancellation of the programme she starred in.

Nichols made her debut on the “All the Smoke” podcast on the same day that Showtime Sports made the announcement that she will be joining the premium television network to contribute to its basketball coverage. Showtime Sports made the announcement on Friday.

Nichols was the face of ESPN’s National Basketball Association coverage for a period of five years. During that time, he conducted interviews with prominent players, covered the playoffs, and hosted the network’s daily basketball programme, “The Jump.” However, she was removed off the air and her programme was terminated when it was revealed by The New York Times that Nichols had made derogatory remarks about Maria Taylor, who was working at ESPN at the same time as Nichols.

According to Nichols, the role of hosting coverage of the NBA finals had been incorporated into her contract with ESPN from the beginning. However, because the company was preparing for the unprecedented airing of the rest of the regular season and the playoffs from a bubble environment near Orlando, Florida, because of the coronavirus pandemic, she was asked to be a sideline reporter instead so that Taylor could host finals studio coverage instead.

When questioned about whether or not hosting the finals was included in Nichols’ contract the previous year, an ESPN spokeswoman refused to comment. When questioned once again on Friday, the spokesperson refused to respond. The majority of ESPN’s on-air commentator contracts are what are known as “pay or play” contracts. This means that ESPN has the authority to remove anybody off the air at any time for any reason, but the business is obligated to continue paying the individual in question.

Nichols was accidentally caught on tape as she was in her hotel room close to Orlando. After she completed shooting for a programme, she forgot to turn off a camera in her room, which resulted in the tape being sent to a server at ESPN’s headquarters in Bristol, Connecticut. Her conversation took place at a time when the country was in the midst of racial justice protests after the police in Minneapolis killed George Floyd, and right after it was reported in The Times that many Black employees at ESPN felt they were harmed by racism at the company. Her words came at a time when the country was in an uproar over racial injustice.

On Friday’s podcast, Nichols said that she thought ESPN was asking her to assist solve staff and audience concerns about a lack of diversity in a manner that they would not have asked a guy to do. Nichols believes that ESPN would not have asked a man to do what they were asking her to do.

After Taylor was made aware of Nichols’ remarks, Nichols said that she made an effort to apologise to Taylor in person but that Taylor declined to meet with her. Nichols noted that she made the attempt.

It is still unclear how significant of a role Nichols will play at Showtime, which does not have the rights to broadcast National Basketball Association games. Nichols will reportedly “contribute to several shows and initiatives from Showtime Basketball across many platforms,” as stated in a statement released by Showtime.