Kwame Brown is back trending! A New York Times report released on Sunday included portions of a leaked July 2020 conversation by ESPN host Rachel Nichols that has led to internal backlash at the sports network and surfaced long-held frustration for the Black women employed there.
Video Leaked Of ESPN's Rachel Nichols Making Disparaging Comments About Fellow Host Maria Taylorhttps://t.co/YYyUNCYfHg
— SideAction (@SideActionHQ) July 4, 2021
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A transcript of that portion of the conversation published by the New York Times is below:
Nichols: So they said to me ‘Hey instead of hosting the NBA Finals, how about you do Doris [Burke, ESPN commentator]’s sideline reporter job for the NBA Finals?’ [pause] ‘Cause guess what that would clear the way for?
Mendelsohn: For her to do it full time.
Nichols: For Maria to do the hosting full time.
Mendelsohn: Yeah.
Nichols: So I have declined. I don’t know what their next move is, but they are feeling pressure because of…all of that, and I’m trying to figure out, like how to just…you know, my thing is, I wish Maria Taylor all the success in the world — she covers football, she covers basketball.If you need to give her more things to do because you are feeling pressure about your crappy longtime record on diversity — which, by the way, I know personally from the female side of it — like, go for it. Just find it somewhere else. You are not going to find it from me or taking my thing away.”
Mendelsohn: “I don’t know. I’m exhausted. Between MeToo and Black Lives Matter, I’ve got nothing left.
Nichols: [laughs] Been thinking about it? And at like 2 in the afternoon three days from now you’re going to text the perfect Twitter thread.
[inaudible exchange]
Mendelsohn: You could actually generate a really interesting conversation about how it’s just so very white male for them to turn two women on each other to compete over the one spot that’s dangling over them.
Nichols: Right.
Mendelsohn: A broader conversation about all the spots that should be under consideration.
Nichols: There isn’t just one seat at the table for a minority of whichever version this week we’re trying to please.
Mendelsohn: If you think about it, this is precisely the problem we’ve been talking about for a long time now which is white men – it is an example of the one Black person in the boardroom [inaudible]…you don’t get to have a Black woman in a prominent spot and feel like “OK, the work is done.” And you certainly don’t get to say, “OK, we have a white woman, we have a woman in a critical seat, and now we’re going to put a Black woman in that same seat. The question is, what are the other seats that white males are in? That should be under consideration.
Following the leaked audio, Kwame Brown was trending. The former No. 1 draft pick called out Nichols back in May during his crazy two weeks of rants.
Kwame Brown Also Went Hard at Rachel Nichols https://t.co/Jafwusweg5
— SideAction (@SideActionHQ) May 20, 2021
Today Kwame was getting some props on Twitter.
Check out all the tweets below:
Well well well Kwame brown was right about #RachelNichols all along 😂😂😂😂😂 pic.twitter.com/hrSKjppFt9
— ItsHenDawg (@IssaHenry92) July 5, 2021
Rachel Nichols is who I thought she was and everybody that's defending her can go to hell. Y'all are just proving Kwame Brown right. How can you be ok with somebody who feels that way about black issues in the country and black woman be the face of NBA coverage for ESPN
— wholesome MG (@VirtuosoSports) July 4, 2021
https://twitter.com/cIipset/status/1411875794952114179
Y’all remember when Kwame Brown called #RachelNichols a Becky? pic.twitter.com/J2385UcJUp
— Derenic Byrd (@DerenicByrd) July 5, 2021
Kwame Brown be knowing #RachelNichols 🤣 pic.twitter.com/mWsVsYQkAX
— St Crispin SNKRS app (@Kamm_Inc) July 5, 2021
Kwame Brown warned everyone about #RachelNichols. She's one of thousands of white women in this country who disgrace women everywhere by trying to position themselves ahead of black women so they can be closer to the power of The (white) Man. I stopped celebrating the fourth.
— dischargingfoul (@dischargingfoul) July 5, 2021
https://twitter.com/HotepPaul/status/1412042178700980226
Kwame Brown called it about Rachel Nichols pic.twitter.com/6zrGMhhTMH
— nudy (@nudy) July 5, 2021
Kwame Brown said you were part of the go along get along gang a couple weeks back too. Glad to see you proved him right https://t.co/dSm7iA7DWn
— Elorm Awuyah (@ElormA99) July 5, 2021
Kwame Brown had gone off on Rachel Nichols.
pic.twitter.com/Sh0hwL1mP6— 🏀 (@laughsNball) July 4, 2021
Kwame Brown warned y’all about Rachel Nichols pic.twitter.com/w5sJ41Sd5s
— Robert 💔💔 (@RobertRaymond46) July 4, 2021
Kwame Brown is once again in the news, which is just great, because he really brings a different kind of energy to Twitter.
He’s refreshing.
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