ESPN host's off-color joke during WNBA All-Star broadcast draws mixed reactions from viewers

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The WNBA All-Star Game’s high-offensive output led ESPN host Elle Duncan to say something many viewed as quite crude on live television.

It’s not uncommon to see a lack of defense in a basketball All-Star Game, no matter if it’s the WNBA or the NBA. But Duncan had an interesting way to describe that side of the game at halftime during ABC’s broadcast on Saturday night.

“We hope it gets a little bit more competitive,” Duncan started off after watching Napheesa Collier’s team put up 82 puts to Caitlin Clark’s squad’s 60 in the first half. “Because like a girls’ trip to Cancun, right now, there’s no D.”

ESPN analyst Chiney Ogwumike quickly said, “Elle, you’re in timeout. You’re done.” Then, the broadcast went to commercial.

After the one-liner found its way working through social media, there were a few who didn’t like Duncan’s humor.

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“Add this to a long list of why no one takes @WNBA or @espn seriously,” one X user said under a video of Duncan, posted by Awful Announcing.

“If Shane Gillis said that, they’d try to cancel him,” another wrote, referencing the comedian’s ESPYs monologue that turned heads this past week.

When the second half eventually started, there was more offense than defense yet again, as Collier led the way with 36 points to help her squad beat Clark’s, 151-131, to win the All-Star Game.

Clark didn’t play in the game, as she continues to nurse a groin injury that has been nagging throughout this 2025 WNBA season. She suffered it on Tuesday against the Connecticut Sun, which forced her to be sidelined for the Indiana Fever during their game against the New York Liberty on Wednesday.