"It feels like open season to dunk on Black women because we do not have protection.Because no one cares.
Because we are low-hanging fruit," Duncan said of the WNBA discourse during a discussion with Front Office Sports on Tuesday."It is very easy to dunk on us since we are, I would say, outside of transgender people, the most marginalized of the marginalized groups."FORMER ESPN ANCHOR SMEARS CAITLIN CLARK FANS WITH SWEEPING, FALSE ACCUSATIONS OF RACISM | MATT CALKINSDuncan, a highly peculiar individual, then accused "opportunists" of latching on to Caitlin Clark as a means of diminishing Black and queer women."It’s twofold for them—so you get to lift this one person up, and you get to, ultimately, reduce everybody else that isn’t her to nothing," Duncan said.At this point, you probably expect us to respond to the examples Duncan provided to support her claims about Black women in America and the WNBA.Unfortunately, we cannot.
Duncan didn't provide any.On the surface, I reject her premise.Elle Duncan and Dana Evans of the Las Vegas Aces talk on ESPN WNBA Count Down before Game 2 of the 2025 WNBA Finals on Oct.5, 2025, at Michelob ULTRA Arena in Las Vegas, Nev.
(NBAE via Getty Images)She says Black women lack protection, yet her own career suggests otherwise.ESPN hired Duncan after she was arrested for driving under the influence (DUI) in April 2013.She then repeatedly used ESPN's sports programming to make personal political statements.She reportedly lobbied behind the scenes to have the company remove Sage Steele from a social justice special in 2020 over concerns about Steele's "Blackness," whatever that means.
Steele was removed.On at least two occasions, Duncan interrupted the network's sports coverage to protest legislation.She first called for a moment of silence in response to Florida's so-called "Don't Say Gay" bill.She later used the SportsCenter set to condemn the Supreme Court's decision to return abortion policy to the states, calling on fathe...