If you spent your holiday weekend totally ignoring the news and staying off of social media, then it’s highly likely that you 1) enjoyed yourself, 2) missed the crazy ESPN story that was making the rounds.

It involves Rachel Nichols and Maria Taylor, and it stems from a New York Times article that shares more audio of Nichols speaking on the phone from that hotel room while her computer video is running. The recording touches on Taylor’s role and diversity at ESPN, and it hit Twitter hard and fast, like Aroldis Chapman buzzing one by your head at 102 mph:

Nichols was crushed on social for this, people calling her a racist and all of that. That she was insensitive to the #MeToo movement and BLM, which were brought up by the other guy in a longer version of the video. Nichols was hammered for her connection to Diane Sawyer (her mother-in-law) and accusations that she only got her job because she knew the right people. It was a mess. Really messy.

So anyway, she apologized on Monday’s edition of The Jump:

Jesus, that was awkward. That’s a tough spot for Richard Jefferson and Kendrick Perkins. Perk got hammered for his comments in that video. Everybody got hammered. I can’t even keep track. Just casually scrolling Twitter it seemed like a five-star headache for everybody except Maria Taylor, who, by the way, is out of a contract soon. She was pulling separate headlines because Andrew Marchand at The New York Post recently reported that she turned down a five million dollar offer:

Taylor, sources said, was hoping to be in the “Stephen A. Smith money” neighborhood, which is near $8 million annually.

But since the initial near $5 million offer was made during last year’s pandemic, the world at ESPN has changed even further. With Disney closely watching the network’s pocketbook, the majority of big earners at ESPN are being asked to take pay cuts.

Some are accepting them, while others, like Kenny Mayne and Ariel Helwani, are leaving. This evolution has quickly become perhaps the biggest current story in sports media.

On a macro level, it feels like ESPN has been a total dumpster fire lately, hasn’t it? Big names leaving, public disputes, ugly spats, etc. Lots of abrasiveness over how “woke” they are, or whatever word you wanna use there.

Just for maximum awkwardness, I think ESPN should put Rachel Nichols on the NBA Finals desk next to Maria Taylor and Stephen A Smith. If they are looking for the best ratings possible, that is the move. It would be must-watch television