Rachel Nichols announced her return to the spotlight on Friday. The former ESPN host will be joining Showtime Basketball, “the fast-rising content vertical that features edgy, authentic and compelling content from every corner of the sport,” Showtime said in a statement.
Nichols made the announcement on the All the Smoke podcast with Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson and posted the news on Twitter.
Thrilled to be partnering with @Showtime and getting back to celebrating what we love most about sports.
We're gonna have so. much. fun. pic.twitter.com/4NDmLhF4Dl— Rachel Nichols (@Rachel__Nichols) September 30, 2022
The sports world was quick to react to Nichols’ next move after her controversial exit from ESPN.
https://twitter.com/CartuneNetwerk/status/1575925451654017024
“Rachel Nichols pulled a Rich Homie Quan on us,” wrote one user.
Welcome back, Rachel. Long overdue. Feel free to hang on the rim.
— Damon Bruce (@DamonBruce) September 30, 2022
“Welcome back, Rachel. Long overdue. Feel free to hang on the rim,” tweeted Damon Bruce.
Rachel Nichols coming back with her own show after seeing y’all pack up Malika Andrews:pic.twitter.com/bBT5fXBpaG
— Back To Back Champs 💙🐺💙🐺 (@WilliamRichJr) September 30, 2022
“Rachel Nichols coming back with her own show after seeing y’all pack up Malika Andrews,” joked another user.
Very happy for you, @Rachel__Nichols https://t.co/Q4QcmvVTjZ
— Ed Werder (@WerderEdESPN) September 30, 2022
“Very happy for you,” Nichols’ former EPSN colleague Ed Werner tweeted.
Big congrats to my friend @Rachel__Nichols. https://t.co/s9WL2eNH5f
— Michael Rosenberg (@Rosenberg_Mike) September 30, 2022
“Big congrats to my friend,” tweeted Sports Illustrated writer Michael Rosenberg.
https://twitter.com/drunkspecialist/status/1575916957999562752
“She hadn’t tweeted anything for an entire year,” noted a Twitter user.
Forget all that, who crowned Josiah Johnson king of NBA twitter? Lmao https://t.co/Ea6Ds3MWTK
— Laieke Abebe (@StrikaNation24_) September 30, 2022
“Forget all that,” Laieke Abebe tweeted. “Who crowned Josiah Johnson king of NBA Twitter?”
This coming after a week of Malika Andrews slander where people were uplifting Rachel feels too convenient to be a coincidence https://t.co/LV3uJ4GNT2
— D.O.C (@darwinchvz320) September 30, 2022
This coming after a week of Malika Andrews slander where people were uplifting Rachel feels too convenient to be a coincidence,” observed another Twitter user.
Showtime has yet to announce when Nichols will appear in her new digs. The NBA season tips off on Oct. 19th.
[Rachel Nichols on Twitter]
