Elle Duncan Explains Awkward Viral Video Clip of Kendrick Perkins on ‘SportsCenter'

Kendrick Perkins appeared on SportsCenter on Tuesday ahead of the opening night of the NBA season. At the end of his segment he made a joke that resulted in an extremely awkward viral video featuring SportsCenter anchor Elle Duncan.

In the video Perkins asks Duncan if she's ready before saying, "What you need Ibuprofen for when you can have a Perk?"

Perkins's incredibly self-satisfied reaction to his pun, combined with Duncan's smile disappearing as she stared down at her desk did look like an incredibly awkward exchang, especially without any context. Luckily, Duncan went online to share the context after seeing the video make the rounds later in the day.

lol yo the comments are wild. I used a Perk idiom at the beginning of the segment (like I always do) and this was him trying to top it. He’s big bruh and my FAVE. there was no shot shotted.
— Elle Duncan (@elleduncanESPN) October 22, 2025

Duncan explained that she had done something similar at the start of the segment and was in on the joke. Awful Announcing pulled that clip, which proves that Duncan did in fact make a pun of her own using Perkins's nickname earlier in the show.

Part I...

Elle Duncan to Kendrick Perkins: "When you work at ESPN, talking to Kendrick is one of the perks..." pic.twitter.com/o49WWgj3Kz
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) October 22, 2025

So there you have it. The only thing awkward between them is a shared appreciation of name-based puns. Perkins might actually deserve some credit for being brave enough to say something so ridiculous on television, but at this point he might be used to it.