The NBA is a multibillion-dollar partner of ESPN. And right now, the commissioner isn't very pleased.
Adam Silver expressed anger Tuesday at ESPN's handling of the Rachel Nichols drama, following an explosive story in the New York Times detailing the contents of a private conversation in which Nichols categorized colleague Maria Taylor's promotion on "NBA Countdown" as a reflection of ESPN's "crappy longtime record on diversity."
Taylor is Black.
Silver told reporters he doesn't think Nichols' job should be in jeopardy, given that her conversation was secretly recorded. Nichols accidentally kept a camera running during a phone call with Adam Mendelsohn, one of LeBron James' confidants.
The conversation took place last year before the start of the NBA Bubble, while Nichols was quarantined in her hotel room. It was uploaded to a server at the company's headquarters, and quickly made its way around the network, the New York Times reports.
"(It's) creating a climate where people are comfortable saying what's on their mind, where people are given the benefit of the doubt, especially long-term employees that are in good standing that when they do make comments, that people recognize that people make mistakes, that careers shouldn't be erased by a single comment, that we should be judging people by the larger context of their body of work and who they are,'' Silver said, per the New York Post.
On Tuesday, ESPN announced Nichols wouldn't be part of ABC's coverage team for the NBA Finals. The veteran broadcaster, who hosts a daily NBA program, "The Jump," was slated to be a sideline reporter.
Malika Andrews is taking Nichols' place.
Silver blamed ESPN for letting the issue fester until it turned into a full-blown drama.
"When people can't get in a room and talk through these issues, this seemingly has festered now for a full year," Silver said. "This is an incident that happened I guess when Rachel was in the bubble a year ago, and I would have thought that in the past year, maybe through some incredibly difficult conversations, that ESPN would have found a way to be able to work through it. Obviously not."
Nichols apologized to Taylor during Monday's broadcast of "The Jump." Taylor's contract expires at the end of the year.
"The first thing they teach you in journalism school is don't be the story, and I don't plan to break that rule today or distract from a fantastic Finals," Nichols said. "But I also don't want to let this moment pass without saying how much I respect, how much I value our colleagues here at ESPN, how deeply, deeply sorry I am for disappointing those I hurt, particularly Maria Taylor, and how grateful I am to be part of this outstanding team."
ESPN canceled Tuesday's airing of "The Jump."
