Rockets: Time to return the slander towards Rachel Nichols

The Houston Rockets have had their fair share of skeptics and naysayers over the years, ranging from Bill Simmons to Brian Windhorst to Max Kellerman and on (the list goes on but I think you get the point). Perhaps one of the most consistent anti-Rockets media personalities has been ESPN’s Rachel Nichols, who has had an endless supply of Rockets vitriol over the years.

Don’t remember? Let’s take a trip down memory lane (although this will surely be cringe-worthy).

“The Rockets like to say we were a hamstring away from beating the Golden State Warriors. They were up in Game 6, they were up in Game 7.

How can you not come back the next year and not have that fire to do it this year instead?”

Rachel has had alot more to say about the Rockets coming up short in 2017-18 due to Chris Paul‘s hamstring.

“I’m kind of done with the ‘we were a hamstring away.’ I think you lose the ‘we were a hamstring, one game away’ thing when this past year you had a chance against the Kevin Durant-less Warriors in a decisive game where Steph Curry didn’t score a point in the first half and you couldn’t close that deal?

I’m done with the hamstring away.”

Or what about overreacting to a regular season game in 2018-19 against the Utah Jazz?

“You know that face that a kid makes in class when the teacher calls on them and he hasn’t done his homework? That’s what the Rockets looked like last night.

The Houston Rockets were called on last night and instead of coming through, the entire team looked like it would rathered have been literally anywhere else. It is time we start acknowledging there is clearly more going on here with Houston.

Something much deeper has gone wrong, something with the spirit and the soul of the team. And while I’m absolutely sure we will see Daryl Morey make a trade before February, I’m not sure if that’s going to fix it.

The Rockets had every reason last night to make a statement about who they still are, to walk on to that floor and show what they can still do. Instead, all they looked like was a team which couldn’t wait to walk off of it.”

Or how about implying that Russell Westbrook and James Harden had friction in their relationship simply because Harden wasn’t at Westbrook’s 32nd birthday dinner? Or when she was quick to judge the Rockets’ bubble situation with Danuel House?

I could surely go on but you likely want to know why any of this matters at this juncture.

Houston Rockets detractor Rachel Nichols makes embarrassing headlines

On Sunday, audio was captured of the oftentimes-ill-advised, loquacious Nichols expressing her displeasure with fellow ESPN African-American rising star Maria Taylor getting the nod to host the 2020 NBA Finals coverage.

On the audio, Nichols stated:

“So they said to me, hey instead of hosting the NBA Finals, why don’t you do Doris’s sideline reporter job for the NBA Finals? Because guess what that would clear the way for?

They are feeling pressure because of all of that. If you need to give her more things to do because of your crappy, longtime record on diversity, go for it.

Just find it somewhere else. You’re not going to find it with me.”

Oh boy, where do we start here?

Houston Rockets detractor Rachel Nichols’ comments underline privilege

There is a long list of issues with Nichols’ comments towards Taylor. For starters, Taylor is supremely talented at her job, as has shown the ability to handle any and everything that ESPN has thrown at her.

We’ve seen her cover volleyball, professional and collegiate basketball, and NFL and college football. Taylor has proven to be willing to ask tough questions, like this one that got under legendary Alabama coach Nick Saban’s skin.

Taylor wasn’t rattled or affected at all by Saban’s frustration towards her. Could Nichols have handled that the same way?

Probably not, seeing how she got that bent out of shape from simply getting a temporary re-assignment by someone who is more talented than her. Taylor is and has been the better choice for any NBA coverage than Nichols, not to mention the fact that she actually played the sport, earning both a volleyball and basketball scholarship to the University of Georgia, where she ranks fourth all-time in total points scored on the hardwood and fourth all-time in kills.

In spite of her qualifications and credentials, Nichols stated that Taylor got the nod simply because of what she described as “all of that”, which is undermining the social climate of racial injustice that’s been heightened and has led to countless lost lives due to police brutality and blatant racism. Yet she tried to place herself in the bucket of diversity?

How so, when she can’t even address the exact nature of the race issues? Or when she’s not willing to allow an African-American woman to have an opportunity to cover an event that she covers every year for merely two-weeks?

Nichols hosts an entire show, The Jump, while Taylor has oftentimes had to fill-in or substitute on shows like First Take or The Jump, all because she hasn’t been given the full-time opportunity that Nichols has long been granted.

Unfortunately for ESPN, they appear on the cusp of losing the multi-talented Taylor and will have to settle for Nichols. And unfortunately that means we’ll all have to hear more awful Houston Rockets takes.