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Nichols and Dimes: Rachel’s Look Around the League

For someone who might not look like she should be covering the National Basketball Association, Rachel Nichols has surely seen it all. One of her biggest takeaways from covering the NBA is that guys show up.

“That is something I think this league does better than anyone else. They legit reward work. If you come to the table and you’re a worker and you show that you are invested, that matters. That’s frankly not true in every sport. It’s not true with every business or every group of people, but it matters in the NBA,” says Nichols.

Nichols believes the league is in good hands. And it starts with what she’s witnessed from Lebron James. She met Lebron when he was a senior in high school. She’s had a front row seat being able to be there and watch him grow as a person and a player. She’s watched him handle life and become an amazing businessman.

“That has been pretty cool. I started in Chicago, watching Michael Wilbon do that with Michael Jordan. Then, I happened to work in Washington, DC when Jordan came to Washington and Wilbon was working with me then. I got to tag along for that experience, watching someone else do it, having that front row seat and getting to do it with LeBron,” she says.

As someone whose job is to interpret what she sees and create stories, what more could she ask for? It’s been an amazing journey. It’s not only those in the GOAT conversation that have impressed her. The young players in the game have introduced a high level of professionalism. They understand the game, not basketball, but the bigger picture.

They’ve grown up with social media, a more global kind of perspective, and new ideas are getting thrown at them earlier, so they’ve been able to internalize.

“I’ve been constantly surprised. Wait, this kid is 23? This kid is 24? And a lot of these guys are still trying to make a name for themselves, but they aren’t afraid to put themselves out there for what’s important.”

A prime example is how players rallied around social justice and issues of racial inequality when the NBA and WNBA played in the bubble during 2020. Nichols considers today’s players some of the most visible African American men and women in this country and believes because of that, they’ve unfairly taken a responsibility and a mantle of having to answer questions about oppression.

Today’s players are not as dependent on that NBA-specific paycheck in the same way players have been in the past. They can put themselves out there earlier in their careers. Their brand paychecks from shoes and sponsors is bigger, so players can take a stand. And brands and sponsors have changed because they now must answer to a more educated consumer base that cares about issues.

“I think some of the players’ messaging on that was the first time I’ve heard it on a national level. People that all these kids and communities look up to were joining the discussion,” says Nichols.

And considering the time in the bubble, that’s a glaring example of how the league is so successful.

“The fact they got a league playing and were able to navigate through a global pandemic is big. They kept everyone safe while moving people around the country in groups in a contact sport where everyone sweats on each other. I think they’ve made really good choices a lot of the time.”

Nichols does point out that right now, some of the NBA’s statistics are skewed, to the point it seems like there’s a new NBA record every day.

“Does that mean that we’ve seen the best NBA players ever in the last two seasons? No,” she said. “It just means the rules are different and the pandemic changes everything. You don’t have practice time, so you can’t play solid defense,” she says.

Nichols would also like to see the NBA’s reform its annual awards. The NBA hasn’t made any kind of major change to its awards in years and all the other professional sports leagues have. The NBA, which is usually so far ahead of the other leagues, just isn’t in this category. 

“I think the league has been so great about if something isn’t right, let’s not worry about how it looks, let’s just face it. And something that’s not right to me is that the “Most Valuable Player” is not what we’re awarding right now.”

The league is really awarding who’s had the best statistical regular season. That’s how that award has been litigated and voted on. And importantly, that’s the directive the NBA sends out. It’s only for the regular season and it looks at stats.

“Because those statistics have taken on a greater part of how people analyze the game and because the voters are being told it’s only for the regular season. The MVP at the moment is who had the best statistical regular season; it doesn’t really take account anymore who is the player in the league who, yes, may have some of the best stats, but also is the guy his whole team, or maybe even the whole league, can’t really function without,” adds Nichols.

“I would love to see the NBA follow what the NFL does. Follow what Major League Baseball and the NHL does. They give awards for scoring. But then they also give separate awards for MVP. It differs somewhat in every league, but voters know the difference.”

But plenty of things the league has done do sit well with Rachel Nichols – she likes the play-in games and the excitement they bring to the playoff chase. But, when the playoffs tip off, don’t look to her for predictions; she’d rather just enjoy watching the game unfold.

“I love superhero and comic book movies. I’m unusually excited to a point where people are concerned about me. But I know in the end who’s going to win. I sit down in an Avengers movie and you know who’s winning. When I sit down in a Star Wars movie, I know which side is going to win. When I go to a basketball game I don’t know who Spider-Man is and I don’t know who the villain is. I have to wait till the end to find out who the winner is. That’s so important to me, and why I love this game.”

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