Maria Taylor may get the last laugh amid the Rachel Nichols racial diversity scandal.
In 2020, Nichols accused her bosses of giving Maria Taylor the 2020 NBA Finals hosting gig because of the color of her skin and ESPNS’s “crappy” history of “diversity.”
Nichols made the comments during a phone call in the privacy of her hotel room at the NBA Bubble in Orlando last year.
In the recording Nichols is heard saying, “Hey, instead of hosting the NBA Finals, like why don’t you do Doris’ [Burke] sideline reporter job for the NBA Finals? ‘Cause guess what that would clear the way for? For Maria to do the hosting full time. So, I have declined.”
However, the call was secretly recorded and leaked to the NY Times which published an explosive article about the audio clip on July 3.
Nichols, who is white, apologized to Taylor via email and text but Taylor, who is Black, didn’t respond.
Nichols struggled to maintain her composure as she apologized profusely during an episode of “The Jump” on ESPN.
But Nichols was told she would not be at courtside when the Phoenix Suns took on the Milwaukee Bucks in the 2021 NBA Finals. The sideline gig went to ESPN reporter Malika Andrews who checks all of the diversity boxes.
Now comes word that Taylor has been offered $3 million to stay on as ESPN anchor after her contract expires in two weeks.
According to reports, Taylor has only days to accept the $3 million offer — which is three times her current salary.
If Taylor declines the raise, Amazon and NBC Sports have expressed an interest in hiring her.
