The Sports Media Thread

[ice grillin you]

https://www.inquirer.com/eagles/les-bowen-inquirer-daily-news-eagles-flyers-20210619.html

[ice grillin you]

I believe your final day on ESPN's campus as an employee was Dec. 22, 2020, even though you had some college football assignments afterwards. We are now in June. What have the last six months or so been like for you?

Golic: You are right. It was Dec. 22. My last gig I did was the Fiesta Bowl in Arizona with Dave Pasch (on Jan. 2). ... The last person I saw at ESPN, and he was sitting in my office was my son, Mike. So I thought that was that was kind of poetic justice. The last person I see after working there for years is a kid who was 10 years old when I first got here. That was pretty wild.

In all honesty, I have enjoyed this time off. I always knew I was going to get back into something. My agent (Lou Oppenheim of ICM Partners) basically told me when it ended in January that I had the choice of doing absolutely nothing. ... He said I could do nothing, do partial things that I enjoy, or I could jump back in with both feet and have at it. When I was done at ESPN, I had just turned 58 and my wife said you're not going to want to not do anything and just sit around. So I'm going to do something. But I did take my sweet old damn time in getting there. It probably took me three weeks to get out of the 4:15 a.m. wake-up mode. I've normalized to like 7:30 or 7:45 a.m. which has been nice. I go to bed later. Unbelievably, I've been watching the NBA playoffs and actually watching the 10 or 10:30 p.m. game in its entirety. That's something I was never able to do while I was doing a morning show.

... So at this point, I'm deciding between a couple of different podcasts, a couple of different college football things, and something that I think will be a lot of fun. It's not in the sports world, though it will involve some sports people. It will involve traveling to their hometowns. That's one of those things my agent talked about, doing those fun things. Fun to me is college football, and I love doing it. I will do that again. It just a matter of how this other project goes. I should find out pretty soon. It's getting there, but not just yet. I think that's going to be a lot of fun. I do know that if you're going to get going, you better be going by football season. I thought of doing something a little bit earlier but I'm not going to lie: I have enjoyed having my own schedule and doing nothing. But I do miss talking.

Let me ask you a very open-ended question to start this. Why are you no longer at ESPN from your perspective?

Golic: Listen, this has been the easiest thing for me to equate, and I equate a lot of things to the sports world which certainly works here given I was in the sports industry. I got cut from the Houston Oilers. I got cut from the Miami Dolphins. The reason was they didn't want me anymore. It's that simple. They didn't feel I had worth to their team. So they cut me. I thought they were wrong in both instances, but it doesn't matter what I think. When they call you into the GM or head coach's office and say they are releasing you, they're going to release you. There's no sense in saying I could do this or that. They've made their decision. With ESPN it was the same thing.

When "Mike & Mike" ended, they still felt there was value to having me there. That's why the new morning show with me and Trey and my son got going. But after that deal was up and that contract was up, they just felt there wasn't any more worth. And that's not even from a monetary point because they didn't even talk to me about taking less money. We knew everybody was taking pay cuts. They didn't even talk about that. When the show ended on July 31, they were just going to let me sit there for six months and collect a paycheck. I said, no, let me go and call college games. I love doing college. They were like, "Well, OK, I guess he wants to work, and he's going to get paid anyway, so, yeah, we'll have him do college games."

So I did that, and we went back to then (talking) about doing college games (going forward). Their last conversation with my agent was, "No, we don't want it." We were like, "Not even to talk about it? We know you can't pay much." Nothing. It was just no. So they're just like those teams that cut me. Those teams felt I had no more worth to them, and ESPN felt the same way. Is it a blow to the ego? Sure. For anybody it would be. When you're there for as long as you are and all of a sudden it's not even discussed to keep you there, yeah, that's a blow to the ego. But that's life. I can't sit here and cry about it. You move on, you know. It was a nice break, and other people want me to do some things and I'll eventually go do that. But that's why it ended.

I asked this of Trey Wingo when he was on my podcast. My thesis was there is a strong argument to be made that goes like this: Why would you remove Mike Golic from the morning spot given all the equity he's built up with the audience? He's far and away the most well-known person there and he's built a relationship with that specific audience. It would seem to be a no-brainer to create a brand around Mike Golic on ESPN Radio even if it's not in the morning. What am I missing here from management? They have a known quantity and you just told me money would not have been an issue. Is it really just certain management people decided we don't want Mike Golic on ESPN Radio anymore? If that's the decision, I'll be blunt. That's bad business, in my opinion.

Golic: But that's absolutely what happened, right? I mean, it had to. They knew what I was making obviously with "Mike & Mike" and that went down when I went to do the show with Trey and my son. I knew if I was going to stay there, it would go down again. But like I said, there was never that discussion. The two people I deal with at ESPN (Golic said that was executive vice president of event and studio production Norby Williamson and senior vice president of production Dave Roberts), that's a question for them. Just what you asked, it would be put to them. Because when I put it to one of them, I said, "Why?" It was like the first response was, "We don't have to tell you." I was like, OK (laughs). Then it was, "We just felt it was time for change." Again, if that's the reason, if you were to ask them and that would be what they said — "He's been there 20-some years and we just felt it was time for a change" — OK, listen, that's their decision. Decisions like that are made all the time. Do I agree with it? No. But again, I wasn't asked. That may be their answer. Their answer might be we felt he's been there long enough. We don't feel he's worth being here anymore. Obviously they felt that because I'm not there.

(Editor's note: Upon changing the national ESPN Radio lineup last July, Williamson said, "Our new lineup will provide sports fans informative and engaging content throughout the week from hosts who all have radio experience. They know how to connect with fans and keep them invested in the programming. Our listeners will hear diverse perspectives on key topics from some of the most talented, knowledgeable and contemporary voices in the industry.")

You were in an interesting situation because not only were you a longtime employee at ESPN coming to the end of a contract but your son is there and he's got a nice career going. He co-hosts a prominent ESPN Radio show with Chiney Ogwumike. I would imagine just as a father you don't want to create any kind of negative news cycle that theoretically could impact your kid. Did you have to navigate this judiciously because Mike Jr. is there and you don't want your situation to potentially cause any kind of issue with him?

Golic: Sure. Without question. I mean, I think any father, any parent, would be doing something like that for their kid. Whether it would have created something bad for him or not, I don't know the answer to that. But I certainly didn't want to take that chance.

... When Mike first got the gig there and was doing 4 to 6 a.m. before me and Greeny were doing our show, and then he jumped on with Trey and I, he was the first to always diffuse the situation of the old nepotism thing. He understands he got the chance because of the last name and connections. Whether it's college connections, family connections, whatever, that happens all the time. I'm not going to sit there and say it doesn't. It does. But we're also in a world where there is no way Mike is still on the air unless Mike isn't doing a good job. If all of life worked on connections, both Mike and Jake (his other son) would still be playing in the NFL because I played in the NFL for nine years. But it doesn't work that way.

So you may be able to get in the door or crack the door open and have a chance, but then you have to do your thing. And Mike has done it time and time again on radio and TV to prove his worth for being there. But that being said, I still would never want to create a situation that could look bad. Do I know if it would have had an effect on Mike? I have no idea. At the end of the day, you're still dealing with human beings who can take things personally or hold grudges.

Did you have any inkling that this would ultimately be what happened, or were you working under the premise that, "OK, if Trey's not there, then they're going to give me another partner and I'll make it work with another partner?"

Golic: Oh, I definitely thought I was going to keep going. When "Mike & Mike" ended, they were talking about the next host and they asked me for my input, which is interesting. I've been asked for my input a lot over the years, but it never seemed to work for my employers (laughs). But again, that's their decision, not mine. They brought up Trey's name. I had known Trey since 2003 because we did "NFL Live" together. ... So I know him and we get along well. Jason Fitz had been filling in a lot then and it was Jason, me and my son, Mike.

One thing I did tell them was Stugotz (Jon Weiner) was someone I enjoyed working with a lot. It was to the point where I actually called Dan Le Batard and I said, "Listen, I'm going to keep pursuing this with Jason Fitz and obviously they are talking with Trey and that's cool, but I want to get Stu in the mix as well. But I don't want this to be like I'm poaching your partner. I need you to say, 'Hey, that's cool. Stu still can do it.'" Dan was great about it. He said if that's something that Stu wants to do, I am more than happy if he wants to go do it. So I made sure I did that.

(Former ESPN audio head) Traug Keller was still running radio then and I was told that they decided to go the safest route, which was Trey, because Trey was obviously a well-known commodity and a true pro at what he does. I mean, he kills it with the NFL and football is obviously king. I was fine with it, and I would have been fine with any one of those guys. But, yeah, it didn't take long behind the scenes for Trey to let us know he didn't like the mornings (laughs). I think he'd even admitted it probably wasn't in his best interest to let everybody else know that as well. I think he had talked about that kind of publicly or even to the bosses and unfortunately I don't know if that helped him in the long run. In his eyes he was probably like, "Hey, I'm just being honest here." And he was. He was very honest before his contract was up with the powers that be. He said, "Listen, when this (his contract) is over, I just don't like these hours." He was very forthright with them. Their end game for him was I guess, that's it. You're done here at ESPN.

When they were going to end me, Trey and Mike, it was decided kind of during the pandemic. I remember writing an email to (ESPN chairman) Jimmy (Pitaro), Norby and Dave and I said, "Listen, guys, I get you may be done with me and this show. But let me put this out there. We're in a pandemic right now. The world's kind of upside down." This was last March or April. "We know Trey doesn't want to do this anymore so he's going to going to leave this show," I said. "Because it's a pandemic, nobody's traveling anywhere. Why don't we just keep some consistency and have me, Mike and Jason Fitz do it?" Because Jason had filled in a ton. Nobody was traveling. Me, Mike and Trey we're doing it in our basement. Jason could have filled the slot, and let's just keep the consistency until we're through this thing next year, which would have been right around this time.

... When we started the new show with Trey and Mike, radio traveled us everywhere to the affiliates. Me and Trey and Mike all were very well known, especially Trey and I, but we were marketed out to the affiliates on how this was going to be the new show, to ramp it up, and give it some juice. So I said if you have a whole new show it certainly isn't fair to them. They can't do any of that. It turned out to be Zubin, J-Will and Keyshawn and they didn't get the benefit of any of that. I felt like they got put behind the 8-ball of not being able to travel and get in front of the affiliates and do Q&As with listeners and all of that. Was it also self-serving where I was going to continue to have a show? Yes. But I remember me, Trey and Mike going all over the place to talk to and meet people and slap backs and shake hands. These guys didn't get to do that at all.

So I said let me, Mike and Jason go for a year. Let us go from April or May until next April or May or June. If you still feel the need to change it, then you are at the point where you can travel around a little more to meet some people and ramp up the new show. I got a response back from one of them that said, "Thanks for your input." That was it. Self-serving? Yes, to the point where I still wanted to do a show and I thought that would still be a good show. People are like, "Oh, you do not like the new morning guys?" No, (that's) not (it) at all. There was an opportunity there and those guys took advantage of it and they're doing their thing. I think they got screwed a bit by not being able to go out and identify with the different affiliates and fan bases. You're also doing it during a pandemic. I thought it was a very, very tough time to start a completely brand new show.

Does the success of former ESPNers finding success after ESPN provide you with inspiration or incentive?

Golic: What it shows me is that there are unbelievably talented people at ESPN still. But what it also shows is that is those people are talented enough to where when ESPN doesn't want them anymore, or they choose to leave ESPN, they're still showing their talent. They still have the talent to go on and succeed in today's sports world. There's a hell of a lot more that is out there that can be competitive to where there are people that are choosing to leave ESPN because they think they're going to have a better opportunity. Some do, some don't. It just confirms to me the talent of these people that that are gone from ESPN. They have ability to still be successful because they're just flat-out good.

... Is that a motivation for me? No, it never was. First for me has always been family. I'm going to do what's best for me and my family. Do I want to still be involved in sports? Yes. People might say if you're doing college football, you want to be on TV. Well, I might be on radio. I don't care if it's on TV. I just love calling college games. I keep going back to my agent who says to do what you love to do. The one thing you can do when you leave ESPN is you can explore other areas that you really couldn't do while you were at ESPN. As I mentioned earlier, this show I may be doing — and I wish it was in stone so I could tell you about it — it's something I couldn't do when I was at ESPN. But now I can. I did a pilot for it and it was a ball. It was a ton of fun. So it does actually give you a little more freedom if you choose to go down a different path.

It's very clear that Mike Greenberg, as he certainly had every right to do, wanted to have his own television presence and had agents that were very connected at the time to ESPN management, and (former ESPN president) John Skipper in particular. Mike got himself a significant raise and a significant star at ESPN. What was left behind, of course, was "Mike & Mike," one of the most successful radio brands no matter if you like the show or not. Now that it's four years later, when you reflect back on that, he ultimately made a choice that he thought was best for his career, but there was collateral damage for that choice. I wonder how you feel about this four years later?

Golic: I don't know if there's been a misconception about Greeny breaking up "Mike & Mike" or Greeny ruined this and blah, blah blah. You said it and I've said it: Greeny had every right to want to go do his own thing. Every right. He wanted to be in New York. He wanted to host his own TV show. He was in a position and he got it. However it all worked out, he got what he wanted and he had every single right to want to do that. There absolutely was tension behind the scenes, and I was actually proud of the way we still did the show, in all honesty. When we were told it was over, it was a year and a half before it actually ended. That's a long runway to have to deal with what was going on. So let me just say again: Greeny had every single right to want to go do his own thing. But the thing that got me was to not know. There are those who said well, he doesn't have to tell you. And you know what? They are right. He doesn't have to tell me.

But I equate it this way. Greeny understands the country club thing. He plays tennis, golf. This is the way I equated it to him. I said, "Greeny, imagine if you and I were tennis partners. We were playing doubles tennis and we got to be really good. We did it for 17, 18 years where that's all we did and we got really good at it. And then, all of a sudden, you, without really saying anything, got another agent and all of a sudden you were on your own. You became a singles player. You wanted to become a singles player, which is your right. But you kind of just did it. So all of a sudden you are going to become a singles player and your partner was like, wait, what the hell just happened?"

That's my only issue. We were partners for so long. Just sit me down and say, you know what, Mike, I think we've taken this as far as we can go, or as far as I want it to go, because I want to go out on my own. I want to be in New York no matter what. I want to host TV alone. That's what I want to do. I would have had no problem with that. He has every right to do that. Me personally, and maybe it's from being in team sports all my life and always thinking of team first, that didn't seem to be the case. That's the thing that upset me the most.

You will always be linked to Greenberg because of your long tenure with him on Mike and Mike. Do you have a relationship with him today?

Golic: No, not really. And it's not all on the way it ended. It's weird, and I try to explain this as best I can. Greeny and I were certainly friends, no doubt about it. I mean, all the years we did the show and all the traveling we did together. But our lives away from ESPN, we were basically an hour and a half apart. When I started the show, I had three kids. He had none. So we already kind of lived in two different worlds, and quite honestly, I think that's what made the show as successful as it was. I think a lot of others have agreed and said that. We were very different and we were never around each other outside of the show or outside of when we had to travel for the show. We never hung out. It was never a friendship like that.

Obviously I didn't like the way things went down, and that's obviously been well documented. So from that point on, outside of the show, it was never, "Hey, let's hang out." We never did that anyway, even though we were certainly friends. Then once it ended kind of the way it ended, there was just again from a geographical situation and just a life situation in general, where our kids were, where our family was, there was just no real reason that we'd really kept in touch with each other. We will see each at Super Bowls and will say, "Hi, how are the kids?" But that's pretty much it.

[Munson]

Just seeing that post and wow that's kinda crazy. I woulda thought he and Greenberg would have been closer than that. He def seems a little miffed at a minimum for not being aware of Greeny's moves and I would be too tbh

[Diomedes]

file this crap under "soap opera for men"

[ice grillin you]

ugh

Sinclair Broadcasting Group, already the nation's dominant owner of regional sports networks, has made an offer to acquire NBCUniversal's seven regional sports networks, The Post has learned.

If Sinclair succeeds in buying the RSNs, it would add dozens of popular National Basketball Association and Major League Baseball teams to its already vast collection of sports broadcast rights, including the Chicago Bulls, Boston Celtics, Philadelphia 76ers, Washington Capitals, Golden State Warriors, and San Francisco Giants.

[rjs246]

Fuuuuck that.

[PhillyPhreak54]

Yeah for real.

They're an awful awful company

[MDS]

regional sports networks went from printing money to being untenable financially. they bleed money now to the point where right wing blood suckers are the only people who went to touch them, probably to bombard people with subtle ted cruz for president ads during sporting events

[ice grillin you]

you have to subscribe to the times to get a bunch of features that come with this piece but heres the text anyway...

As the N.B.A. playoffs started in May, the stars of ESPN's marquee basketball show, "NBA Countdown," discussed whether they would refuse to appear on it.

They were objecting to a production edict from executives that they believed was issued to benefit a sideline reporter and fellow star, Rachel Nichols, despite comments she had made suggesting that the host of "NBA Countdown," Maria Taylor, had gotten that job because she is Black. Nichols is white.

A preshow call with Taylor and the other commentators — Jalen Rose, Adrian Wojnarowski and Jay Williams — as well as "NBA Countdown" staff members had turned acrimonious, and Jimmy Pitaro, ESPN's president, had several phone conversations while at a family event to try to help smooth things over.

Some of those involved saw the initial maneuvering as a sign of the network favoring Nichols despite a backdrop of criticism from employees who complained that the sports network has long mishandled problems with racism. It had declined to discipline Nichols despite fury throughout the company over her remark, which she made during a phone conversation nearly a year ago after learning that she would not host coverage during the 2020 N.B.A. finals, as she had been expecting.

"I wish Maria Taylor all the success in the world — she covers football, she covers basketball," Nichols said in July 2020. "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."

ESPN has been trying, and often failing, to deal with the scandal for months. But a fast-approaching deadline is forcing the network to show at least some of its cards. Taylor's contract expires during the N.B.A. finals, which start on Tuesday between the Phoenix Suns and the Milwaukee Bucks, yet few substantive steps have been taken toward a new deal even though Pitaro has identified Taylor as one of ESPN's rising stars.

Whether or not ESPN and Taylor agree on a contract, the internal damage from the past year has been substantial.

This article is based upon interviews with more than a dozen current and former ESPN employees, as well as others with knowledge of the company's inner workings. Most of them spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized by ESPN to speak to the news media or because of paperwork they had signed upon leaving the company.

The Video

In mid-July last year, Nichols was staying at the Coronado Springs Resort at Walt Disney World near Orlando, Fla., confined to her room for seven days because of the N.B.A.'s coronavirus protocols before the season resumed. She had with her a video camera so that she could continue appearing on ESPN shows, primarily "The Jump," a daily N.B.A. show she has hosted since 2016.

But she was eyeing hosting duties for ESPN's pregame and postgame shows during the playoffs and finals, the network's most important studio basketball programming. That host is the face of ESPN's N.B.A. coverage, and before the pandemic, both she and Taylor hosted different versions of the show.

About the time Nichols arrived in Florida, she was told by executives that Taylor would host coverage during the N.B.A. finals.

Nichols discussed her career on a phone call on July 13, 2020, with Adam Mendelsohn, the longtime adviser of the Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James and James's agent, Rich Paul. Nichols was speaking with Mendelsohn to request an interview with James and his Lakers teammate Anthony Davis, whom Paul also represents. During the conversation, she also sought advice from Mendelsohn because she believed her bosses were advancing Taylor at her expense.

"I just want them to go somewhere else — it's in my contract, by the way; this job is in my contract in writing," Nichols told Mendelsohn, referring to hosting coverage during the N.B.A. finals a few minutes after saying ESPN was "feeling pressure" about racial diversity.

Video

0:00/0:59
Excerpt: Rachel Nichols and Adam Mendelsohn Conversation
Nichols, an ESPN reporter, and Mendelsohn, a spokesman for LeBron James, had a phone conversation that was recorded on video from ESPN's server. This is an excerpt from a recording of more than 20 minutes that was obtained by The New York Times.

1:00
Excerpt: Rachel Nichols and Adam Mendelsohn Conversation
Nichols, an ESPN reporter, and Mendelsohn, a spokesman for LeBron James, had a phone conversation that was recorded on video from ESPN's server. This is an excerpt from a recording of more than 20 minutes that was obtained by The New York Times.

"We, of course, are not going to comment on the specifics of any commentator contract," said Josh Krulewitz, an ESPN spokesman. Krulewitz declined to make Pitaro available for an interview.

Unbeknown to Nichols, her video camera was on, and the call was being recorded to a server at ESPN's headquarters in Bristol, Conn.

It is not clear why her camera was on, but most people at ESPN believe that Nichols, using new technology during a pandemic, did not turn it off properly. It was effectively the remote pandemic version of a hot mic incident.

Dozens of ESPN employees have access to the company's video servers as part of their normal work flow.

At least one of these people watched the video on the server, recorded it on a cellphone and shared it with others. Soon, more copies of the conversation were spreading around ESPN, and within hours it reached ESPN executives, in part because of some of the comments from Mendelsohn. He is a prominent political and communications strategist who has worked for the giant private equity firm TPG; was a communications director and deputy chief of staff for Arnold Schwarzenegger, then the governor of California; and is a co-founder of James's voting rights group, More Than a Vote, which focused on encouraging access for Black voters during the 2020 election.

In a recording of the video obtained by The New York Times, Nichols and Mendelsohn paused for a moment during the conversation after Nichols said she planned to wait for ESPN's next move. Mendelsohn, who is white, then said: "I don't know. I'm exhausted. Between Me Too and Black Lives Matter, I got nothing left." Nichols then laughed.

Video

0:00/1:46
Excerpt: Rachel Nichols and Adam Mendelsohn Conversation
Nichols and Mendelsohn discussed her career and wider issues of diversity at ESPN and in corporate America. This is an excerpt from a longer video obtained by The New York Times.
[Adam Mendelsohn]


1:47
Excerpt: Rachel Nichols and Adam Mendelsohn Conversation

Nichols and Mendelsohn discussed her career and wider issues of diversity at ESPN and in corporate America. This is an excerpt from a longer video obtained by The New York Times.
Mendelsohn, throughout the conversation, strategized with Nichols about how she should respond to ESPN. "Be careful because that place is a snake pit," he said. They considered a move that Mendelsohn described as "baller" but "hard to pull off": telling Pitaro and others that having two women competing over the same job was a sign of ESPN's wider shortcomings with female employees.

"Those same people — who are, like, generally white conservative male Trump voters — is part of the reason I've had a hard time at ESPN," Nichols said during the conversation. "I basically finally just outworked everyone for so long that they had to recognize it. I don't want to then be a victim of them trying to play catch-up for the same damage that affected me in the first place, you know what I mean. So I'm trying to just be nice."

Multiple Black ESPN employees said they told one another after hearing the conversation that it confirmed their suspicions that outwardly supportive white people talk differently behind closed doors.

In a statement, Mendelsohn said: "I will share what I believed then and still believe to be true. Maria deserved and earned the position, and Rachel must respect it. Maria deserved it because of her work, and ESPN recognized that like many people and companies in America, they must intentionally change. Just because Maria got the job does not mean Rachel shouldn't get paid what she deserves. Rachel and Maria should not be forced into a zero-sum game by ESPN, and Rachel needed to call them out."

He declined to answer follow-up questions about their conversation.

In response to questions from The Times, Nichols said she was frustrated and was "unloading to a friend about ESPN's process, not about Maria." But she added: "My own intentions in that conversation, and the opinion of those in charge at ESPN, are not the sum of what matters here — if Maria felt the conversation was upsetting, then it was, and I was the cause of that for her."

Nichols said she reached out to Taylor to apologize through texts and phone calls. "Maria has chosen not to respond to these offers, which is completely fair and a decision I respect," Nichols said.

Taylor declined to comment.

Nichols said the recording of the video by an ESPN colleague was hurtful. "I was shaken that a fellow employee would do this, and that other employees, including some of those within the N.B.A. project, had no remorse about passing around a spy video of a female co-worker alone in her hotel room," she said, adding, "I would in no way suggest that the way the comments came to light should grant a free pass on them being hurtful to other people."

Krulewitz, the spokesman, said: "A diverse group of executives thoroughly and fairly considered all the facts related to the incident and then addressed the situation appropriately. We're proud of the coverage we continue to produce, and our focus will remain on Maria, Rachel and the rest of the talented team collectively serving N.B.A. fans."

The Response
Within ESPN, particularly among the N.B.A. group that works with both Taylor and Nichols, many employees were outraged upon watching the video. They were especially upset by what they perceived as Nichols's expression of a common criticism used by white workers in many workplaces to disparage nonwhite colleagues — that Taylor was offered the hosting job only because of her race, not because she was the best person for the job.

The employees also said that Nichols made Taylor's job more difficult because Taylor also needs to go to Mendelsohn to secure interviews with basketball newsmakers.

As ESPN executives were deciding what to do about the video, a four-minute cut of the conversation was leaked to Deadspin. (The video obtained by The Times is more than 20 minutes of continuous conversation.)

The leak had a major effect on how ESPN responded. Multiple former ESPN employees, including a former executive, said that company executives expressed fears of a lawsuit from Nichols and that Disney, ESPN's parent company, became heavily involved.

Krulewitz said the leak did not change how the company reacted. Nichols said she spoke with a lawyer to better understand how an ESPN investigation would work, but she did not threaten to sue.

ESPN declined to say whether any employees were disciplined, and Nichols said that she was told that the "content of the conversation did not warrant any discipline." The only person known to be punished was Kayla Johnson, a digital video producer who told ESPN human resources that she had sent the video to Taylor. Johnson, who is Black, was suspended for two weeks without pay, and later was given less desirable tasks at work.

Johnson did not respond to requests for comment and recently left ESPN.

Taylor, who had recently gained widespread acclaim for her on-air comments about the murder of George Floyd by a police officer, was fed up because she had also been disparaged recently by at least one other ESPN colleague for speaking about Floyd. She told executives, including Pitaro, the company's president, that she would not finish covering the season.

"I will not call myself a victim, but I certainly have felt victimized and I do not feel as though my complaints have been taken seriously," she wrote in an email to ESPN executives, including Pitaro, two weeks after the incident, which was obtained by The Times. "In fact, the first time I have heard from HR after 2 incidents of racial insensitivity was to ask if I leaked Rachel's tape to the media. I would never do that."

She added: "Simply being a front facing black woman at this company has taken its toll physically and mentally."

A few days later, Taylor reconsidered and told the company she would host "NBA Countdown" during the playoffs on one condition: She did not want Nichols to appear on the show.

In Taylor's view, according to six people who have spoken to her, ESPN executives agreed to the stipulation but violated it almost immediately by allowing Nichols to make short appearances without interacting with Taylor. ESPN declined to comment about the arrangement.

Renewed Confrontation

One employee involved in N.B.A. coverage said that ESPN's decision not to punish Nichols was still an "active source of pain" and discussion among co-workers.

It also has potentially affected coverage and assignments. For the 2020-21 N.B.A. season, in addition to her role hosting "The Jump," Nichols was made the sideline reporter for ESPN's most important N.B.A. games.

Taylor, meanwhile, has become increasingly comfortable with expressing her views within the company. In the spring, she admonished executives for appointing a game coverage team for the N.C.A.A. women's Final Four that did not include any Black women and pressured the company to add LaChina Robinson as an analyst, which they did.

Taylor also has given Malika Andrews, who is Black, a bigger role on "NBA Countdown," which directly led to the latest internal tug of war.

To avoid having Taylor and Nichols interact, all of Nichols's appearances on "NBA Countdown" this season were prerecorded, but often in a way to make segments appear as if they aired live. Appearances by other sideline reporters were a mixture of live and prerecorded.

Shortly before the playoffs, however, ESPN executives said that if Taylor continued to refuse to interact with Nichols on air, no reporters would be allowed on the show live. "NBA Countdown" pushed back to no avail.

"The idea behind this was to treat every reporter equally and inclusively by providing a similar forum and platform," Krulewitz said. Nichols said she preferred "consistency in the way the show used the reporters," and added that she told ESPN decision makers that she did not want to take opportunities away from others.

But on May 22, the first day of the N.B.A. playoffs, the tensions exploded between those who worked on the show and ESPN executives in charge of basketball.

On the preshow call involving the stars of the show and production staff in both Los Angeles and New York, Taylor insisted to an executive that she be able to conduct live interviews with sideline reporters. She also brought up the recorded phone conversation. Wojnarowski jumped in and called Nichols a bad teammate. Rose said that ESPN had asked a lot from Black employees over the past year, but that he and other Black employees would extend their credibility to the company no longer.

Taylor, whom executives had asked numerous times to change her interactions with Nichols, said that the only people punished by ESPN's actions were women of color: Johnson, herself and the three sideline reporters — Lisa Salters, Cassidy Hubbarth and Andrews — who received lesser assignments so that Nichols could have the lead sideline reporter role and now were not being allowed to appear on the show live.

Pitaro spoke with Taylor and Wojnarowski, and Wojnarowski alone, when Pitaro asked Wojnarowski whether going back to the status quo and allowing sideline reporters to appear on the show live would solve the problem, according to three people familiar with the conversation.

By the end of the day, the restrictions were rescinded.

Krulewitz declined to comment on the argument, besides saying that "the decision regarding reporters on these shows was made solely by N.B.A. production management," and not Pitaro.

The spread of the recording throughout ESPN happened less than a week after Pitaro had pledged "accountability" and improvements throughout ESPN's workplace culture.

"We are going to speak through our actions here, and we are going to improve," Pitaro said in an interview then. "If we don't, it is on me, I failed, because it does all start with me."

Still, nobody was outwardly punished besides Johnson, the producer who recently departed ESPN. She left with a handful of Black employees who had pressed Pitaro for changes.

Taylor's contract with ESPN expires in less than three weeks, and it looks increasingly likely that those could be her last weeks at the network.

[PhillyPhreak54]

Not a good look there, Rachel.

And neither for ESPN as well.

I hope Taylor leaves and excels and I hope Nichols finds herself working the sidelines of lacrosse games.

[Rome]

Holy shtein ESPN is horrendous.  What a nightmare.

[MDS]

I really don't think this is a huge deal. She was having a private chat with someone and said her company sucks at diversity and is promoting someone talented to fill that void.

It came off as more vain and egotistical which checks out for on camera talent

[ice grillin you]

oh boy

[MDS]

yea rachel nichols is super racist and is in the proud boys

we live in a kneejerk reactionary society and this is a really easy thing to fall into that narrative

[ice grillin you]

she said a black woman got a job cause she's black...it's literally everything progressives are fighting against forever but particularly in the last 5 years

I'm begging you to quit while you are already buried...this will not end well for you