Tag: the jump

ESPN decides to take Rachel Nichols off the air and cancel ‘The Jump’ after leaked remarks

Her time at ESPN is essentially over.

ESPN’s NBA coverage was marred by controversy this past postseason when The New York Times published a piece detailing longtime reporter Rachel Nichols’ recorded remarks about then-colleague Maria Taylor.

The fallout from that story led to Malika Andrews replacing Nichols as the reporter at the NBA Finals. Taylor would sign a contract with NBC Sports. And now, Nichols’ time at ESPN is essentially done.

According to a report from Sports Business Journal, ESPN is pulling Nichols off the air and canceling her daytime NBA show, The Jump. While Nichols still has at least a year remaining on her contract, the network will let that contract expire without featuring Nichols on any future programming.

ESPN Senior VP/Production David Roberts told SBJ of those plans:

“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.”

In Nichols’ comments, which were recorded during the 2020 Orlando bubble, she said of Taylor:

“I wish Maria Taylor all the success in the world — she covers football, she covers basketball. If you need to give her more things to do because you are feeling pressure about your crappy longtime record on diversity — which, by the way, I know personally from the female side of it — like, go for it. Just find it somewhere else. You are not going to find it from me or taking my thing away.”

Outrage over those comments had brewed internally at ESPN and ultimately led to this final decision on Wednesday.

ESPN launched The Jump in 2016, which featured panel discussions comprised of current and former NBA players (and also saw Paul Pierce’s high-profile firing from the show). Nichols was in her second stint with ESPN, rejoining the network in 2016 from Turner after previously working with ESPN from 2004 to 2013.

Paul Pierce quickly shared his reaction to getting fired at ESPN

Oh.

Former NBA star Paul Pierce was fired from his basketball analyst role with ESPN on Monday, according to Front Office Sports and confirmed by The Athletic’s Richard Deitsch.

The firing came three days after Pierce posted video of himself drinking and smoking with exotic dancers to his Instagram Live, which also led to a stream of misogynistic tweets about The Jump host Rachel Nichols.

Though ESPN declined to comment on its decision to part ways with the 10-time NBA All-Star, Pierce was back on social media almost immediately after news of his firing went public.

He posted video of himself laughing to both Twitter and his Instagram Story with the hashtag “smile” included in the clip.

“Big things coming soon,” he wrote in the tweet.

Pierce joined ESPN as an analyst for NBA Countdown and The Jump shortly after his retirement in 2017.

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Is OKC this year better than OKC last year? The Jump thinks so.

Rachel Nichols, Amin Elhassan, and Scottie Pippen debated whether or not this year’s Thunder team is better than the 2018-19 Thunder.

Oklahoma City’s surprising success has been talked about again and again this season.

And it’s easy to understand why. The Thunder are one of the feel-good stories in the league.

In their first year without Russell Westbrook, who essentially made the franchise over the last decade, Oklahoma City has exceeded all expectations. They have essentially guaranteed themselves a spot in the postseason after they were written off ahead of training camp, and their playing like the Thunder team that fans and opposing teams have been accustomed to seeing.

Throw in the combination of rejuvenated veteran Chris Paul, a rising star in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the narrative of a team full of scrappy players who are sacrificing for the greater good … Hollywood doesn’t’ have many better storylines.

But is this season an unlikely one-off or are the Thunder actually better than they were a year ago with both Westbrook and Paul George on the roster?

ESPN’s The Jump debated the issue.

Royce Young, who covers the Thunder for ESPN, tweeted out ahead of OKC’s matchup against the Bucks that Milwaukee and Oklahoma City had the two best records in the league since Thanksgiving.

The Jump broke it down even further, noting that “even if you break it out by winning percentage, still only the Bucks and Lakers have been better than the Thunder”.

Rachel Nichols posed the question to Amin Elhassan and Scottie Pippen.

Elhassan pointed out that at this point in the season last year, Oklahoma City had a record of 38-23. Currently, the Thunder are 37-23 (adding a game to the loss column due to the historically lopsided loss to the Bucks on Friday night). Elhassan said that while Oklahoma City isn’t better on paper, the offense is better than it was last year.

“You look at the offense, it’s way better than it was last year. Last year’s offense was 16th in the league, this year’s offense is 10th. When you look at the way that they use everyone on the roster, that it’s not very star-centric, when you look at the development of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and the year that Chris Paul has had, I’m willing to say that if last year’s Thunder played this year’s Thunder, this year’s Thunder would win in a seven-game series”.

Scottie Pippen agreed and added that he believes that this year’s OKC team is better both on paper and on the court.

“They have players that are playing their role, and I think they’ve got better leadership. Chris Paul gets his guys to play the way he wants them to play. And they follow the way that he plays. And that’s why they’re being successful on the basketball court.”

Elhassan also noted that Paul’s influence was visible in the way Oklahoma City executes, especially during close games, something that shouldn’t be surprising to Thunder fans considering Paul has been the most clutch player in the league this season.

The conversation about the Thunder starts at the 2:37 mark.

Kendrick Perkins apologizes on The Jump, just not to Kevin Durant

Kendrick Perkins apologized to Russell Westbrook for overshadowing his moment and explained what happened between him and KD on Twitter.

Kendrick Perkins was ready with an apology on Friday afternoon’s edition of The Jump. Just not to Kevin Durant.

Perkins apologized to Russell Westbrook for taking away from his moment and his return to Oklahoma City on Thursday night.

Now Perkins did somewhat backtrack his statement about Westbrook being the best to ever put on a Thunder jersey, saying that, “I never meant to say that Russell Westbrook is an overall better basketball player than Kevin Durant. I’ve said it on The Jump last year, I said it on First Take during the finals, that Kevin Durant was the best player in the world.”

However, he did reiterate that Westbrook took full advantage of the opportunity that was made available when KD left for Golden State, something Perkins acknowledges was “his choice”.

According to Perkins, Westbrook earned the title Mr. Thunder by “continuing to put them guys in the position to be successful every year”.

Perkins points out that KD has mentioned previously that he no longer cares what his former organization is doing, and asked, “what does it matter?” Insisting that he “wasn’t shooting a slug” at Durant and that however KD feels about the situation, “that’s on him.”

Perkins’ explanation of the Twitter beef between him and his former teammate starts at the 3:40 mark.