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Lauren "Elle" Duncan (born April 12, 1983) is an American sports anchor for ESPN.[3]
Career
Atlanta
Duncan began her career in Atlanta as an intern with the 2 Live Stews, an American syndicated sports talk radio show on 790/The Zone.[4] After a year, she was hired by Atlanta host, Ryan Cameron, to join the Ryan Cameron Show on V-103.[5] While there, her roles included traffic reporter and on-air personality.[4] Duncan hosted an afternoon show at the station in 2009 before moving to handle sports reporting for the morning Frank and Wanda show. During her time with V-103, Duncan also was a contributor with the Atlanta Falcons radio network pre- and post-game shows, the Atlanta Hawks sideline reporter, and a freelance sideline reporter for SEC and ACC football games on Comcast Sports South.[6] Duncan landed a job as the traffic reporter at NBC affiliate WXIA-TV in 2012.[7] On April 28, 2013, Duncan was arrested for DUI and reckless driving.[8][9]
Duncan joined SportsCenter as an anchor on April 27, 2016.[3] She hosts the weekday 6pm ET edition of SportsCenter with Kevin Negandhi.
Film
Duncan appeared in the 2014 movie Ride Along as a news reporter.
Philanthropic efforts
Duncan has been involved with Walker, a non-profit leader in special education, behavioral health and residential treatment for children and youth. Specifically, Duncan has been involved with Walker’s Change Shoes, Change Lives Run and Walk and engaged with Walker’s youth through on-campus volunteering and events through NESN’s employee volunteer program, NESN Connects.[13]
While at V-103, Duncan launched a Cause & Effect series to recognize a number of local nonprofit organizations quarterly. The series consisted of different events throughout Atlanta that raised funds for underexposed nonprofit organizations.[14] Duncan has also worked as a spokeswoman with Enchanted Closet, an organization which provides prom dresses, shoes, and accessories to disadvantaged girls for prom.[15]
Girl Dad
On January 27, 2020, the evening after the Kobe Bryanthelicopter crash, Elle Duncan hosted ESPN's flagship program SportsCenter and gave an emotional account of a conversation she had with Bryant two years earlier at an ESPN event in New York City, where Bryant told her: "I'm a girl dad". It started a national trend for the hashtag "Girl Dad" featuring pictures and accounts of daughters and their dads.[16]