[2] Growing up in Potomac, Maryland,[4] she became a fan of sports during her youth, saying it felt like watching a live storybook movie with heroes and villains, and an ending not yet written.

[6][7] While attending the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University, she had summer internships at USA Today, Chicago Sun-Times and The Washington Post.

[16][17] She was also a correspondent for E:60 and became a recognizable face at the network due to her rapport with prominent sports figures, with Esquire naming Nichols one of the "Women We Love".

[22][23] Nichols was widely praised for her tough questioning of NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell in the wake of the Ray Rice scandal[24] and likewise for confronting boxer Floyd Mayweather on his history of domestic violence.

A sit-down interview with Nichols became a benchmark for active players, and Sports Illustrated called The Jump "TV's smartest basketball show".

The recording included a phone call with LeBron James' advisor Adam Mendelsohn, which was reportedly 30 minutes long, taken from a continuous video feed connected to ESPN's servers.

[32][35] One year later, four minutes of edited footage from the phone call leaked to The New York Times before the 2021 NBA Finals amid ESPN's contract negotiations with Taylor.

[36][37] She also alleged that internal pressure from a New York Times investigation into racism at ESPN and the network's "crappy record on diversity" led to executives asking her to step aside for Taylor.

[38][39] In response to the article, ESPN removed Nichols from sideline reporting for the 2021 Finals and skipped airing The Jump for a day before she returned and issued an on-air apology to Taylor.

[43][44] As Connecticut and Florida are two-party consent states for lawful recording of phone calls and conversations, Nichols was reported to have a strong legal case against ESPN.

[47] In August 2023, it was announced that Nichols joined Fox Sports as one of the panelists for the weekday morning debate show Undisputed with Skip Bayless, Keyshawn Johnson, Michael Irvin and Richard Sherman.