[NYT] A Disparaging Video Prompts Explosive Fallout Within ESPN

Harden and Nichols have the same number of Finals appearances in 2021

 

oops wrong thread

 

Well it is a microcosm of the culture wars of today...so everyone is going have a hot take.

 

I mean she just said something that every company is doing, diversity hire's... United airlines is only accepting resumes for black men and women or minorities. I thought this was just the new world we are living in.

 

More Taylor Rooks content please

 

I suspect Rachel Nichols is pretty much finished at ESPN. This whole thing may have reached the point of "irreconcilable differences", therefore I think her time there will end in the near future, likely sometime during the NBA offseason. She won't be outright fired, but I do think she and ESPN will work out some sort of exit strategy so that they can have a "graceful" split and she can move on. I just don't see how she can continue to exist there for much longer, with all the toxicity and presumably damaged professional relationships with colleagues there.

She deserves some heat, but ESPN's upper leadership is the #1 entity at fault here, for not proactively taking care of this Nichols/Taylor situation promptly last year (BEFORE Rachel made her comments), and letting it fester. Rachel probably should have been moved into some sort of higher-up, "less public-facing" role a year or two ago, and Maria Taylor could take Nichols's place on ESPN's NBA coverage, with a new contract. From a business and marketability standpoint, Taylor seems to be a better fit for ESPN's current NBA coverage than Nichols. Taylor seems to have a better rapport with NBA players and staff, and seems to be viewed more favorably by today's audience (although that same audience likes TNT's coverage a LOT more than ESPN's, for good reason). Nichols was more appealing to the audience who watched sports coverage 10-15 years ago.

Rachel getting away from toxic, crappy ESPN might be a net positive for her, depending on what she does next. I'm no fan of hers, but I don't dislike her and I don't think she's a racist.

 

https://www.chron.com/sports/rockets/article/ESPN-s-Rachel-Nichols-blasts-Rockets-6930397.php

She can **** off. Maria Taylor is a better fit

 

Rachel will become the senior basketball correspondent on Pardon My Take.

 

Was that the season where the Rockets dropped from 56 to 41 games? That season was awful, and there was no shortage of criticism towards the team even from Rockets fans on here. And yet Nichols criticizing them on her show means she has a vendetta against Houston? Help me understand that. The hosts on that show are supposed to praise teams/players that they think are doing great, and blast teams/players that aren’t. That’s how it works — they never pretend to be detached, emotion-less analysts. We shouldn’t accept the good without also being willing to accept the bad.

 

too logical, me thinks

 

You are likely right, but I would like to see her seriously threaten a lawsuit at ESPN and use this as leverage for a powerful management role. If she just leaves, she loses her negotiating power. She has a difficult task in mending relationships, but she was able to do it already with Perk and Jalen. She should pitch that she is up to the task. The rest of ESPN management has shown no sign they are capable of doing better.

 

A lawsuit for what? They could just fire her because her show is not good.

 

Nothing wrong with her show.

As Whitlock brought up this is about nothing more than eight million dollars. That's what Taylor wants when her contract expires this year and she signs a new contract.

Her agent is trying to play the race card and force Nichols out, so his client can get paid. Sleazy but very effective at accomplishing his goals.

 

In the NYT article they mentioned that ESPN was concerned about her suing. I have no inside info about what is the content of the lawsuit. My completely speculative guess is it would be around: 1) Whether her assignments were consistent with her contract, and 2) Whether she was given promotion opportunities appropriate for her productivity. A lawsuit about whether she is better than Maria Taylor is almost certainly a losing strategy.

 

Breach of contract.

 

Can you show me the part where they are only accepting resumes from black men and women or minorities?

So who are the other 50% aliens?

 

How do you see Taylor having a better rapport?

Everybody seems to love Rachel.

If she has to leave because of this ESPN is ****ed it will just divide that place even more.

 

you fk*n stupid?

 

Who asked you, Klanazi?