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 fourth episode, titled “Block Party,” sees Carter looking into that old saying, “defense wins championships.” Vince meets with two of the greatest defenders of all-time in two very different settings, but still has a lot of fun with both of them.
The episode opens on the USS Hornet, a military aircraft carrier, where Carter meets with legendary point guard Gary Payton. The two NBA stars put on their flights suits and head to the deck to discuss defense. Carter gives some history on the legendary Bill Russell, who was another of the best defenders to ever play the game.
Payton then provides a demonstration as to how he earned the nickname “The Glove.” Carter takes us through some of his playing career and we see a highlight reel of Payton stealing the ball from some great point guards. Payton explains that he always wanted to take the other players out of their game.
Carter explains that it wasn’t just his quick feet and fast hands that added up to his success, but also his relentless mouth, and we see another highlight package of Payton talking trash on the court. Payton explains that the one player who he could never get a reaction out of was John Stockton. He also talks a bit about how he went about covering Michael Jordan in the NBA Finals, saying he was trying to agitate him and get in his head.
Ever the competitors, Carter and Payton go head to head in a series of board games, including Hungry Hungry Hippos, Candyland and Battleship. Payton wins and then steals Cater’s phone on his way out.
Carter then heads to meet a very different type of legendary defender. While Payton was locking down guards on the perimeter, Dikembe Mutombo was blocking shots in the pain. Carter heads to Atlanta to meet with Mutombo at his, very fitting block party, where he sits in a dunk tank before Carter sends him into the water.
We see highlights of Mutombo blocking countless shots in the NBA. They discuss his iconic finger wag, which led to the NBA actually changing their taunting rules. Mutombo adjusted his signature taunt, wagging his finger at the crowd instead of in the face of his opponents.
They talk about how other players considered it an accomplishment to dunk on Mutombo and we see a clip of him arguing with Michael Jordan regarding whether or not Jordan had achieved that. We also see a clip of Carter dunking on Mutombo later in his career.
Carer then gears up in full head gear and they take to the court so Mutombo can demonstrate his technique when it comes to blocking shots. The big man proves he’s still got it and it doesn’t go so well for Vince. And to make matters worse, when he tosses Mutombo his phone to take their selfie, it gets swatted away. It was not a good episode for Vince’s phones.
This was, however, the most entertaining episode of Vince’s Places yet. Mutombo’s presence alone is enough to make this worth the watch and they had a lot of fun with both guests in this installment. It probably wan’t the most informational episode, as it really just focused on the playing careers for two great players, but it is still probably the strongest one to date.
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.