ESPN has cancelled their NBA show The Jump and removed Rachel Nichols from all future NBA coverage after she made comments about fellow reporter Maria Taylor that eventually led to her departing the company, according to Awful Announcing.
- Nichols will remain under contract at ESPN but she isn’t expected to be on the air in any capacity.
- The move comes after Nichols made comments about Taylor, then host of ESPN’s NBA Countdown, that led to Taylor leaving the company for a job at NBC.
- Two weeks ago, ESPN appointed David Roberts as the lead on all NBA programming going forward. It was Roberts who made the decision to cancel The Jump.
- The Jump will continue to air over the next few weeks with different hosts and will eventually be replaced with a new NBA weekday show leading up to the 2021-2022 season.
- No details on the new show have been shared at this time.
- Awful Announcing speculated that Max Kellerman, who was announced to be leaving First Take yesterday, may be the planned host for this new NBA show.