Adam Silver Weighs in On Rachel Nichols Controversy

It seems like almost everyone related to the NBA is talking about the fallout from the Rachel Nichols scandal. The scandal in question was started when leaked audio of the ESPN reporter was released, which found her suggesting that she was losing work to her peer Maria Taylor, who is Black. Nichols has publicly apologized for the comments but she had been pulled from her show by ESPN parent company Disney and was notably absent from the sidelines of game one of the Finals last night.

Now NBA commissioner Adam Silver is letting his opinion be known. Speaking at a news conference following the game last night, Silver was asked about his thoughts regarding the Nichols mess and relayed a message of peace. He said that he didn't think an employee's entire career should be ruined because of one comment. According to Yahoo, Silver's comments were as follows:

"They require a very labor-intensive effort ... creating a climate where people are comfortable saying what's on their mind, where people are given the benefit of the doubt, especially long-term employees that are in good standing that when they do make comments that people recognize that people make mistakes — that careers shouldn't be erased by a single comment," Silver said.

"That we should be judging people by the larger context of their body of work and who they are and what we know about them."


Silver's words go against what many others are saying: that Nichols should be held accountable and should be fired by ESPN for what she said. Currently, ESPN hasn't said what they will do with the reporter but anyone expecting to see her during the Finals definitely shouldn't hold their breath.