Can ESPN Prevent Someone From Filling Elle Duncan's Role As Woke Queen?

On Thursday, ESPN announced that Duncan will host her final SportsCenter on December 16. Sources confirm to OutKick that she has accepted a role with Netflix and will leave the network entirely.

ESPN will be better off without her. In recent years, Duncan had become one of the network’s biggest internal distractions, often turning sports segments into her own personal soapbox. She drew attention for protesting the "Don’t Say Gay" legislation, urging fathers to support daughters seeking abortions, referencing black women’s C-section rates in a debate with Stephen A. Smith, and reportedly working behind the scenes to exclude Sage Steele from a social justice special.

That’s a lot of headaches from someone who brought no measurable value to the company.

Yet, she wasn’t always that way. Duncan didn’t position herself as a progressive thought leader until around 2020, after ESPN had let go of Jemele Hill and Bomani Jones. Put simply, she saw an opening.

So the question is whether another on-air personality will see an opportunity upon Duncan's departure and take on the role as the network's resident woke queen.

We suspect several will try.

Elle Duncan, Christine Williamson, Monica McNutt via Getty Images.

ESPN announced that Christine Williamson, who calls herself #thebaldgirl on social media, will replace Duncan on the 6 p.m. SportsCenter. For what it's worth, her colleagues describe Williamson to OutKick as professional and well-liked.

The more likely candidate to fill Duncan's Joy Reid impression is Monica McNutt. If McNutt sounds familiar, she is the one who hosted an NFL preview show this past summer but had never heard of NFL Hall of Famer Barry Sanders. But she first made a name for herself during Caitlin Clark's rookie season. She was one of those who accused fans of favoring Clark because she is white. She isn't exactly bright enough to add anything profound to the conversation.

Thus, it's up to executives Burke Magnus and Dave Roberts to prevent someone from trying to be the next Elle Duncan or Jemele Hill. And to their credit, Magnus and Roberts have dramatically improved ESPN's reputation over the past two years by toning down the political rhetoric. The numbers show it. The network's daily studio shows are as popular as they've been in at least three years.

This is not to say there is no place for far-left, entitled sports commentators. Bill Simmons has an audience. Dan Le Batard does, sort of.

But there should be no place for them at most mainstream sports networks. Elle Duncan was a cancer. In an industry where so many people are replaceable, ESPN should be out of the business of enabling cancers.