At halftime of last weekend’s WNBA All-Star Game, ESPN’s Elle Duncan made quite the analogy while discussing the exhibition’s 80-62 score.
“We hope it gets a little bit more competitive,” Duncan said. “Because like a girls trip to Cancun, right now, there’s no D.”
“We hope it gets a little bit more competitive. Because like a girls’ trip to Cancun, right now, there’s no D.”
Elle Duncan sums up the first half of the WNBA All-Star Game. pic.twitter.com/6jm0SuFlwO
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) July 20, 2025
It’s objectively funny joke. One that’s simple, subtle, and by her own admission, a bit blue. It’s the type of humor that has aided the Atlanta native throughout her journey from local anchor to one of the cornerstones of ESPN’s coverage over the course of the last decade.
And it’s also the kind of comment that has made her a target for criticism throughout that same career.
Look no further than the replies to our social media post of the clip, which elicited responses such as “Elle Duncan is one of the most unlikable individuals I’ve ever seen in sports media” and “No class. Shallow dimwit” (and those weren’t even the worst replies). Appearing on The Dan Le Batard with Stugotz on Thursday, the SportsCenter anchor addressed the criticism her joke, effectively laughing it off while pointing to her track record of such comedy.
“My thing with the Cancun joke is, I feel like whenever I say something, it’s like sometimes a reintroduction for some people who clearly don’t know me or my work over the last 10 years,” Duncan said. “I’m like, ‘bro, I said on air one time that if you celebrate too early, it’s called premature I’m-Jacked-Elation.’ Like I can’t actually imagine this is worse than that. Like I feel like I constantly have to remind people, I have been saying things like this for the 10 years I have been at ESPN.
“So I thought it was silly. I thought it was funny. Some people disagree. Some people definitely agree. But it is what it is. Like, yes, girls say crude jokes too.”
But Elle, what about the kids?
“The funny part to me, y’all, has been the people who are like, ‘what am I supposed to say to my children?’” Duncan continued. “I’m like, ‘well if you have to talk to your children about the fact that ‘D’ is a slang word for a penis, then I hope that I was able to help you have that conversation with your child who’s old enough to watch basketball.’ Because my 4-year-old knows what a penis is.
“It’s so silly to me. The idea that like this is groundbreaking or somehow completely inappropriate in the landscape that we live in right now is just wild to me. I was a little blown, to be real.”
Whether you love her or hate her, Duncan is undeniably her authentic self and if you listen to her long enough, odds are you’re going to hear an allegedly inappropriate joke. And while everyone might not be a fan of punchlines like “premature I’m-jacked-elation,” the fact that her humor often results in such a response says more about those replying than it does Duncan.