ESPN’s Kendrick Perkins isn’t known to have much of a filter when he speaks, and he went viral for his comments on SportsCenter on Tuesday. Perkins made what appeared to be a flirtatious comment towards anchor Elle Duncan, who was left in stunned silence upon hearing it.
“What you need ibuprofen for when you can have a perk,” Perkins said.
No way Kendrick Perkins said that on Live TV 😭😭 pic.twitter.com/GYtUx0Zc0w
— BrickCenter (@BrickCenter_) October 21, 2025
The two later laughed it off, but social media couldn’t believe what Perkins, who spent 14 seasons in the NBA, had just said there. He was being called out for shooting his shot, but it looks like he wasn’t doing that at all.
With the clip spreading like wildfire, it came to Duncan’s attention. The 42-year-old made it clear on X that Perkins was not shooting his shot with her.
“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.”
That was just two friends having fun. This is what Duncan was referring to when she said she used a “Perk idiom” at the start of the segment.
“When you work at ESPN, talking to Kendrick is one of the perks,” Duncan said.
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, Perkins, who won an NBA championship with the Boston Celtics in 2008, looks to be in the clear. What made that comment seem even more egregious is that the 40-year-old is married.
Perkins tied the knot with his longtime girlfriend, Vanity Alpough, in 2009, and you’d imagine he’d have been in serious trouble at home if he were flirting on television. Duncan isn’t single either, as she married a man named Omar Abdul Ali back in 2016.
