Rachel Nichols became one of the biggest stories of the sports world on the 4th of July when an audio clip of her talking about fellow ESPN employee Maria Taylor was leaked. Nichols has now addressed the controversy on live television.
Nichols spoke about the New York Times story briefly during Monday’s edition of “The Jump,” which she hosts. She said she didn’t want to distract from the NBA Finals or break one of the core journalism rules by becoming the story but that she is “deeply sorry” for her remarks about Taylor.
“I don’t want to let this moment pass without saying how much I respect and value our colleagues here at ESPN, how deeply, deeply sorry I am for disappointing those I hurt — particularly Maria Taylor — and how grateful I am to be part of this outstanding team,” Nichols said.
Kendrick Perkins, who co-hosts “The Jump,” thanked Nichols for accepting responsibility for her actions. He also said she is a “great person” and has always treated him with respect and made him feel comfortable.
Nichols reportedly made the comments about Taylor in her hotel room at the NBA’s Walt Disney World bubble last year. She had forgotten to turn her camera off after filming “The Jump” and was venting about how ESPN gave Taylor the NBA Finals hosting job over her. Nichols criticized ESPN for its “crappy longtime record on diversity” but said she felt she was more deserving than Taylor. You can listen to the audio clip here.
Taylor is in the middle of a contract dispute with ESPN and reportedly turned down an offer of $5 million per year from the network. Jalen Rose showed support for her live on the air last week. You can see that video here.
Columbus Blue Jackets goalie Matiss Kivlenieks died in a tragic accident on Sunday, and new information has been released about the incident that led to his death.
Police in Novi, Mich., said Monday morning that Kivlenieks died after he fell and hit his head while fleeing a hot tub during a “firework malfunction.” It’s unclear if Kivlenieks fell and hit his head, but an autopsy has revealed that Kivlenieks was actually killed by an errant firework.
According to The Associated Press, a medical examiner in Michigan says Kivlenieks “died of chest trauma from an errant fireworks mortar blast” and not from a fall.
Kivlenieks was 24.
Blue Jackets president of hockey operations John Davidson said in a statement Monday that the team is “shocked and saddened” by Kivlenieks’ death. He extended condolences to Kivlenieks’ mother Astrida and the rest of his family.
“Kivi was an outstanding young man who greeted every day and everyone with a smile and the impact he had during his four years with our organization will not be forgotten,” Davidson said.
Kivlenieks signed with the Blue Jackets in 2017 after he went undrafted. He started two games for Columbus this past season and more recently played for Latvia at the IIHF World Championships.
Many NBA fans have been unhappy with the persistent replay reviews late in games this season, and even some of the players feel the same way.
Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum appeared recently on Kicks’ “Beyond the Press” podcast. During the episode, Tatum mentioned how the constant waiting-out of replays down the stretch messes with the flow of the game.
“I get both sides because they’re just trying to make sure that everything is done as correct as possible,” he said. “But as a fan watching and the times that I’ve been out there, nobody likes it. It takes you out of rhythm. I’ve been out there playing times where the last two minutes, they review every out of bounds or the challenges … As a player you don’t like being taken out of rhythm or slowing the game down. It just kinda messes up the flow.”
The negative effect on watchability for the fans goes without saying. But it is interesting to hear a star admit that the incessant replay reviews can have an impact on player rhythm. While other players might say that the reviews give them extra time to rest late in games, Tatum clearly is not a fan.
Then again, we have seen this postseason how officials have screwed up by choosing NOT to review a crucial call. Thus, the NBA has to walk a fine line between getting calls right and not ticking off both players and fans.
H/T NBA Reddit
Peyton Manning and Tiger Woods got the best of Tom Brady and Phil Mickelson in “The Match” last year, so Manning has earned the right to talk a little trash ahead of this year’s event despite not playing in it. The soon-to-be Hall of Famer did just that on Monday.
Manning took part in a prediction show for the “The Match,” which will take place on Tuesday at Moonlight Basin in Big Sky, Montana. He was asked about Brady’s seven Super Bowl rings at one point, and he reminded everyone that Brady would have more if not for Peyton and his brother Eli.
The quote was priceless:
The Manning brothers eliminated Brady and the New England Patriots from the postseason five times combined. Of course, Brady has been to the playoffs so many times that plenty of players have helped send him home. The one that really stings is Eli’s New York Giants spoiling the Patriots’ undefeated season. The younger Manning still trolls Brady about that to this day.
Brady has probably been too busy throwing haymakers at Aaron Rodgers and Bryson DeChambeau to concern himself with what Peyton has to say. Don’t be surprised if he circles back at some point.
Katie Nolan’s ESPN show “Always Late with Katie Nolan” has not aired in over a year, but the network has yet to make a formal announcement about it. As many have speculated, the show has been canceled.
Bobby Burack of Outkick was told by sources on Monday that ESPN quietly canceled Nolan’s show. The report comes after people noticed that Nolan changed her Twitter profile to refer to “Always Late” in the past tense.
Nolan signed a multi-year contract with ESPN back in 2017 that reportedly pays her around $1 million annually. Her show initially aired on ESPN+ and was responsible for a couple of viral videos and a Sports Emmy nomination. However, poor viewership resulted in “Always Late” being moved to ESPN2 in September 2019.
Nolan still has her “Sports?” podcast and makes regular appearances on ESPN’s “Highly Questionable.” However, Burack notes that her long-term future with the network is in question now that “Always Late” has been canceled.
You may remember when Nolan briefly made her Twitter private last year following a spat with Jason Whitlock. The profile is public again, and Nolan has more than 600,000 followers.
Nate McMillan took over as the interim head coach of the Atlanta Hawks when Lloyd Pierce was fired back in March. As you might expect, McMillan is going to be sticking around.
Hawks general manager Travis Schlenk told reporters that an agreement was reached on Monday morning to make McMillan the team’s full-time head coach. ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reports that the new deal is for four years.
Pierce was fired after the Hawks began the season 14-20. They immediately went on an eight-game winning streak when McMillan was promoted to interim head coach. Atlanta then became one of the biggest surprises in the NBA, securing the No. 5 seed in the Eastern Conference and falling just two wins short of reaching the NBA Finals.
The Hawks went 27-11 under McMillan during the regular season and then went on a deep playoff run. They also snapped a four-year postseason drought for the franchise. The decision to keep McMillan was likely a very easy one.
Le’Veon Bell has spent a lot of time recently defending his football ability, but he may now have to do some damage control with his personal life.
Bell supposedly has seven children with six different women. An Instagram model who goes by Golden Blondie revealed back in March that she was pregnant with Bell’s newest child, who was born in May. However, Bell has supposedly not made any effort to be a part of his new daughter’s life.
Golden Blondie unloaded on Bell in an Instagram post recently in which she called him a “terrible person.” She said Bell barely takes care of his children and only chooses to acknowledge some of them as his own. Bro Bible shared a screenshot of the scathing post. A portion of the post, which was edited by LBS for profanity, is below:
“You’re the worst f—ing human being on the planet you can’t even call yourself a man when you barley take care of the kids you do claim and pick and choose which ones to claim!
“Oh and we can dead the narrative I choose to be baby mama #6 because I never knew that.. I would have ran for the hills!!” Golden Blondie wrote. “But I guess that’s why you had to go get an dumb underaged b—h after me I let you slide for a minute tryna keep it cool but now the world can know what a terrible person you are! You said you would be there for me and the baby and went ghost when it came out in the blogs like the coward you are no @nfl team wants a little coward!”
The woman went on to claim that Bell pursued her and didn’t have a contract at the time, which she says proves she was not interested in his money.
Bell, who remains a free agent, made headlines recently for some comments he made about Andy Reid. He drew criticism for that and has been trolled a lot on social media recently, and the claims made by his alleged sixth baby mama should only intensify that.
Trevor Lawrence has officially signed his first NFL contract with the Jacksonville Jaguars.
The Jaguars announced on Monday that Lawrence has signed his rookie deal. The contract is worth $36.8 million over four years with $24.1 million guaranteed, according to multiple reports. It also includes the standard fifth-year rookie option.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter shared some of the specific language in the deal:
Lawrence’s contract is very similar to the one Joe Burrow signed with the Cincinnati Bengals last year. Burrow and Lawrence, of course, were the No. 1 overall picks in the last two NFL Drafts.
Burrow’s deal with the Bengals took a bit longer, as the two sides didn’t come to an agreement until late in July. Burrow’s father had a funny comment about the negotiations at the time.
Lawrence is the favorite to be named NFL Rookie of the Year this season, and he will certainly have every opportunity to live up to the hype under Urban Meyer.
Columbus Blue Jackets goaltender Matiss Kivlenieks died on Sunday in an incident that was said to be related to a fireworks mishap.
The Blue Jackets announced on Monday that Kivlenieks suffered an apparent head injury in a fall. The incident occurred in Novi, Mich., and police there told The Athletic that Kivlenieks and several other individuals were “fleeing a hot tub” because of a “firework malfunction.”
“The deceased, while exiting the hot tub, slipped and fell and hit his head on the concrete,” Novi police Lt. Jason Meier said.
Blue Jackets president of hockey operations John Davidson said in a statement that the team is “shocked and saddened” by Kivlenieks’ death. He extended condolences to Kivlenieks’ mother Astrida and the rest of his family.
“Kivi was an outstanding young man who greeted every day and everyone with a smile and the impact he had during his four years with our organization will not be forgotten,” Davidson said.
Kivlenieks signed with the Blue Jackets in 2017 after he went undrafted. He started two games for Columbus this past season and more recently played for Latvia at the IIHF World Championships.
Mallory Edens, the daughter of Milwaukee Bucks co-owner Wes Edens, is dealing with an unfortunate situation as she tries to locate her lost dog. The New York Mets are trying to help.
Edens took to Twitter on Saturday to share the news that her dog, Prince, got off his leash while being walked by a dog walker in Queens, New York.
The location where the dog went missing was near Citi Field, so the Mets also alerted their 1.1 million Twitter followers. Edens thanked them for their help.
Edens’ Instagram indicates she got Prince a little over a year ago.
Edens is a big supporter of the Bucks, so their appearance in the NBA Finals is a huge deal for her and her family. If you remember, she even got into a friendly war with Drake during the playoffs two years ago.
Having a dog go missing is always terrible, but it’s even worse that Edens is dealing with it at such an otherwise exciting time. We’ll keep our fingers crossed for a happy ending.
