Malika Andrews will host ESPN's newest NBA studio show, "NBA Today," as part of a multi-year contract extension, the network announced Monday. The weekday afternoon show replaces "The Jump," which is being canceled after host Rachel Nichols was pulled from all of ESPN's NBA programming last month.
"The Jump" will have its final episode on Oct. 8, and "NBA Today" will launch Oct. 18, a day before the 2021-22 regular season begins. Kendrick Perkins, Chiney Ogwumike, Vince Carter and Zach Lowe will serve as analysts for the show.
Andrews joined ESPN in 2018 and has worked primarily as a sideline reporter.
Nichols was pulled from all NBA programming in August, a month after her removal from NBA Finals sideline coverage following the emergence of her comments about then-colleague Maria Taylor. In July, the New York Times revealed a conversation involving Nichols a year earlier — when Nichols was apparently unaware that a camera was filming — in which she suggested Taylor, who is Black, was given preference because of ESPN's "record on diversity."
Andrews replaced Nichols as ESPN's sideline reporter for the NBA Finals between the Bucks and Suns.
(Photo: Michael J. LeBrecht II / NBAE via Getty Images)
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