NBA Commissioner Adam Silver spoke out about the recent issue involving ESPN's broadcasters, Rachel Nichols and Maria Taylor. Silver gave his two cents before Game 1 between Phoenix Suns and Milwaukee Bucks on Tuesday, USA Today reported.

Silver's comments came as a leaked recording of a phone conversation between Nichols and Adam Mendelsohn surfaced. In the recording acquired by the New York Times, Nichols expressed her frustrations with ESPN assigning Taylor to the NBA Finals in the previous year, emphasizing that the network did it over "racially-inclusive workplace practices."

NBA Commissioner on the Racial Issue Between Rachel Nichols and Maria Taylor

Silver described what happened between Taylor and Nichols as "unfortunate," arguing that both of the women work "extraordinarily hard." The NBA Commissioner also lamented that both of the broadcasters were "pitted against each other."

"I would have thought that in the past year, maybe through some incredibly difficult conversations, that ESPN would have found a way to be able to work through it," Silver said, adding that issues like diversity were not unique to the network.

Despite Silver's faith in the leadership ESPN has, the NBA commissioner was saddened that the issue of the network reached the public instead of dealing them "behind closed doors."

"Careers shouldn't be erased by a single comment," Silver said, underscoring that people should be judged on the larger context in terms of their body of work, who they are, and what is known about them.

ESPN Removes Rachel Nichols on NBA Finals Over Leaked Comments About Maria Taylor

In the wake of the leaked recording of Nichols' rant about Taylor in the previous year, The Guardian reported that ESPN removed the White broadcaster as a sideline reporter for NBA finals.

ESPN announced that starting Tuesday night, Malika Andrews would take over Nichols' role for Game 1 of the best-of-seven-game series. CNBC also reported that Nichols would also not be present on the "NBA Countdown," which is the pre-game and halftime show for the championship series. ESPN confirmed with CNBC that Taylor will be hosting the said show alongside other ESPN reporters.

It can be remembered that Nichols was a sideline reporter for the top national games this season, as well as last year's NBA finals.

She also hosted ESPN's "The Jump," which failed to appear on Tuesday. ESPN did not issue a comment about why Nichols' show was not aired. The Guardian noted that Nichols will continue to host "The Jump," which she has been hosting since 2016.

Apart from Rachel Nichols, USA Today reported that ESPN suspended the digital video producer who was not identified, that allegedly disclosed to the network's human resources department that she shared the clip with Taylor. A Black woman and another producer were reported to be suspended by ESPN for about two weeks without pay, then they eventually left the network.

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Written by: Joshua Summers

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