Maria Taylor EXITS ESPN

Maria Taylor

Maria Taylor is leaving ESPN after the network and she jointly announced Wednesday that they were unable to reach a contract extension, The Wrap is reporting.

Taylor’s contract with ESPN expired Tuesday, July 20, and Taylor’s assignment during last night’s NBA Finals was her last ESPN assignment.

Taylor is leaving ESPN following the uproar over comments made by her ESPN colleague Rachel Nichols in 2020, where she suggested Taylor was picked over her to cover last year’s NBA Finals because of her race. Nichols’ comments drew swift backlash and public support of Taylor, who has been a rising star at ESPN.

“Maria’s remarkable success speaks directly to her abilities and work ethic. There is no doubt we will miss Maria, but we remain determined to continue to build a deep and skilled talent roster that thoroughly reflects the athletes we cover and the fans we serve. While she chose to pursue a new opportunity, we are proud of the work we’ve done together,” ESPN’s Jimmy Pitaro said in a statement.

“So thankful to Jimmy and all of my great teammates and friends at the SEC Network, College GameDay, Women’s and Men’s college basketball, and the NBA Countdown family — the people who believed in me, encouraged me, pushed me, and lifted me up.  Words are inadequate to express my boundless appreciation, and I hope to make them proud,” Taylor said in a statement.

In July 2020, a tape leaked of a conversation between Nichols and LeBron James’ advisor Adam Mendelsohn. In the conversation — which was accidentally recorded and uploaded to ESPN’s servers because Nichols forgot to turn her video camera off — Nichols expressed frustration that Taylor had been chosen over her to host “NBA Countdown” during last year’s NBA Finals, suggesting that the network made the decision because it was “feeling pressure” on diversity.