ESPN+ has found a format that works for series that dive into the history of our favorite sports. We’ve seen it with Peyton’s Places covering the NFL, we’ve seen it with Abby’s Places covering soccer, Rowdy’s Places covering combat sports, Big Papi’s Places for baseball and even Eli’s Places which took a look at the world of College Football. Now, legendary NBA star Vince Carter will explore the history of basketball in Vince’s Places.
The second episode, titled “Dr. J and the Human Highlight Film,” Carter explored the history and the art of dunking. And to do that, he enlists the help of two of the pioneers of the art, Julius “Dr. J” Erving and Dominique “The Human Highlight Film” Wilkins.
The episode opens up with Carter acting as a town crier, calling out some of the history of the slam dunk to interested passersby. He then meets with Erving outside the Philadelphia Museum of Art, where he shares his issues with the famous Rocky statue and say there should instead be one of Dr. J.
We see some highlights of Dr. J’s iconic dunks as Carter explains that Erving turned the dunk into a work of art and it belongs in the museum. After a dream sequence gag that gives a little too much information about Carter, Erving walks us through some of his most iconic dunks.
Carter then explained the Lew Alcindor rule (named after basketball legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar), which outlawed dunking from the NBA. That led to Dr. J taking his talents to the ABA, which used the dunk as a selling point and even introduced the first dunk contest. Carter credits Erving as an influence on his game and even shows a clip of Michael Jordan giving him the same credit.
Carter then heads to Atlanta to meet with another legendary dunker – Dominique Wilkins. He brings his son, Vincent Jr., to a movie theater to watch highlights of Wilkins’ incredible dunks. After some adorable commentary from Vince Jr., Wilkins steps out of the screen and promises to show them how to dunk.
They take a look at some of Wilkins’ highlights as he explains that he accidentally established his signature dunking form of jumping off of two feet. He then goes on to credit Vince Carter with some of the most amazing dunks he’s ever seen.
Carter then gets to the introduction of the NBA’s first dunk contest. His history lesson gets up to the 80sm when Wilkins competed in the beloved contest. They showed some highlights of the 1985 contest between Wilkins and Michael Jordan, which Wilkins actually managed to win.
If you know anything about Michael Jordan though, it’s that he doesn’t take losing. They met again in 1988, and Jordan got his revenge. We see some highlights from that contest, including his iconic dunk from the free throw line. The conversion comes to an end when Vince Jr. returns and asks if they can dunk now.
Wilkins takes them outside where a toy rim is set up. He teaches Vince Jr. some of his best dunks, including his powerful windmill. It’s a great segment, just watching Carter’s son dunk again and again on the little toy rim. And of course, before things wrap up, they try to get a selfie with Wilkins but the Human Highlight Film magically disappears.
This was a step up from last week’s episode, simply because the dunk is one of the most entertaining parts of basketball. That, combined with guests like Erving and Wilkins and the inclusion of Vince Jr., makes for a very entertaining episode.
You can watch Vince’s Places on ESPN+ now. Fans can subscribe to ESPN+ for just $6.99 a month and can cancel at any time.