Former ESPN Host Michelle Beadle Claims LeBron James, Rachel Nichols Played a Part in Her Removal from NBA Countdown

Ex-ESPN host Michelle Beadle believes NBA superstar LeBron James and her former colleague Rachel Nichols were involved in her removal from the show NBA Countdown.

Speaking with Brandon Contes on the Awful Announcing Podcast, Beadle claimed James was upset about her coverage of “The Decision” — James’ 2010 free agency that turned into a spectacle thanks to a live ESPN program of the same name. According to Beadle, she didn’t find out until after the fact that James allegedly had a hand in the move.

“I’d gotten wind of it right as I was leaving,” Beadle said, “and then more stuff came out and I was just like, ‘What a crap show.'”

“I didn’t know how much of it was real and how much wasn’t. He’s a powerful dude. There’s no getting around that. He is an empire and an entity in himself — and all the respect for building such a powerful entity on name and doing it well — so yeah, people are gonna listen.”

When asked about her relationship with Nichols — who would later be let go after a recorded conversation about another colleague was leaked in 2021 — Beadle explained that there wasn’t much of one.

“We were civil,” Beadle said. “Some people I don’t trust in this business. That’s one of them.”

She then expressed her belief that, like James, Nichols had something to do with her removal from the pregame show.

“She ultimately is not that powerful,” Beadle continued, “but I think [with] some of the narrative that was being allowed to be played out — specifically in The New York Post at the time — I knew where it was coming from. We all knew where it was coming from.”