Rachel Nichols apologizes on-air for comments about Maria Taylor

Rachel Nichols opened today’s episode of The Jump with an immediate apology to Maria Taylor and others at ESPN.

This comes a day after a New York Times report detailed comments Nichols made about Taylor, implying Taylor received last year’s NBA Finals hosting assignment because she’s Black.

Here’s how Nichols apologized:

Rachel Nichols began today's episode of The Jump with this apology to Maria Taylor and others at ESPN https://t.co/9cXsDmMMhZ pic.twitter.com/yQj5j8akMw

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) July 5, 2021

And here’s the segment more in full, including commentary from Kendrick Perkins and Richard Jefferson.

Rachel Nichols, appearing alongside Kendrick Perkins and Richard Jefferson, just apologized on The Jump pic.twitter.com/hXjMi283CZ

— philip lewis (@Phil_Lewis_) July 5, 2021

This, obviously, is going to have major implications going forward for ESPN, much less for Maria Taylor, whose contract is set to expire. Nichols certainly came across as sincere today, but it’s hard to imagine that apology is going to end the discourse surrounding this, especially given the NBA Finals is set to begin tomorrow night.