ESPN Cancels Rachel Nichols' Show After Race Controversy "The Jump," which celebrated its five-year anniversary earlier this year, will be replaced with other NBA-themed content.
By Emily Rella
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ESPN is canceling Rachel Nichols' The Jump and has pulled her from NBA coverage after the race-related comments she made about former coworker Maria Taylor.
The Jump, which celebrated its five-year anniversary earlier this year, will be replaced with other NBA-themed content, though it's not clear when the show will officially end. By its five-year anniversary in February, the program had aired over 1,000 episodes.
Got to create a whole show and spend five years hanging out with some of my favorite people talking about one my favorite things
"Got to create a whole show and spend five years hanging out with some of my favorite people," Nichols tweeted Wednesday, thanking her producers and crew. She added, "The Jump was never built to last forever but it sure was fun. More to come…"
"We mutually agreed that this approach regarding our NBA coverage was best for all concerned. Rachel is an excellent reporter, host and journalist, and we thank her for her many contributions to our NBA content," said a statement from ESPN senior vice president for production David Roberts, obtained by the New York Times.
In July, the Times reported on comments she'd made about Taylor a year earlier. In a video recording taken without her knowledge, she told LeBron James' advisor Adam Mendelsohn that Taylor, a Black reporter who is no longer with the network, was chosen to host the 2020 NBA finals coverage because ESPN's leadership was "feeling pressure" over diversity.
