As part of ESPN’s attempted world sports dominance in all mediums, they released something new: a podcast miniseries. Titled Dunkumentaries, it is a joint ESPN Audio and ESPN Films production. Dunkumentaries consists of five episodes, none of which are more than about 20 minutes in length. Each episode focuses on a specific dunk or dunk moment as well as its aftermath and the story behind it. The miniseries has a lot of ESPN personalities lending their voices to the episodes, including Kate Fagan, Cari Champion, Ramona Shelburne, and David Jacoby. It seems like Jacoby’s brainchild (Note: It is actually the brainchild of Kevin Wildes) as he has voiced tons of promos and is part of two episodes. And aside from all five episodes being released on their own feed, the first episode can also be found on the Jalen & Jacoby podcast feed.When I first heard about Dunkumentaries as a podcast miniseries, I was intrigued.
I am a big fan of Jalen & Jacoby and figured that, if David Jacoby was working on it, it would be entertaining and informational. I figured it could be ESPN’s version of Serial, with a different dunk story told week-by-week (give or take) for five or six weeks. Instead, the entire series was released on the same day, a bit overwhelming when four extra episodes land in your podcast feed unexpectedly. Naturally, I listened to all five episodes of the miniseries. Here are my thoughts on each episode, with plenty of spoilers included.
Episode One: Sneaker Wars
I was born in 1995, four years after Dee Brown pumped up his shoes at the 1991 NBA Slam Dunk Contest, never knowing about the sneaker war that engulfed the 1990s. Reebok got a lot of publicity from the contest, especially as their pumps won out over a similar (albeit inferior) shoe from Nike. But Michael Jordan would end up winning out and the Jordan Brand would become what it is today.
I enjoyed hearing Brown give his account and would have liked to hear Michael Jordan’s, as well. This is a lot to ask, and a lack of Jordan was not this episode’s death knell. David Jacoby’s passion for shoes comes out in his narration, telling me a story I didn’t entirely know about. Brown himself makes a point that his name is still mentioned 25 years later because his dunk contest is legendary. Definitely worth a listen, especially if you watched Brown beat Jordan in 1991.
Episode Two: The Yin & Yang of Basketball
Why is the hoop ten feet off the ground? Apparently, it was semi-random from Dr. James Naismith, as hosts Cari Champion and Roman Mars (of 99% Invisible, which did a prequel podcast on the shot clock) explain. The discussion revolves around consequences from this decision, including the advantages of George Mikan’s 6-10 height, a Texas Western dunk in their famous win over Kentucky, and the NCAA banning dunks while Lew Alcindor (Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) was at UCLA. Then the episode shifts focus, talking about the ABA (with a cameo from Mikan) and how 3-point shooting moved the focus away from dunks and toward long-range shooting.
The first half of the episode was fascinating, teaching the evolution of the dunk and showing its cultural relevance throughout the 20th century. When the ABA was mentioned and the three-point shot was discussed, I could not tell if they considered it an evolution of the dunk because it was a gimmick that became an integral part of the sport or if it was completely separate. Not to mention, the Stephen Curry mention had me rolling my eyes. It didn’t really fit considering this episode is supposed to focus specifically on dunks.
Eventually, the dunk and three-point shot are proclaimed the “yin and yang” of basketball, which might be true but feels like a stretch. But they also mentioned it was seen as a gimmick, just like the dunk once was. Mid-range shots are completely overlooked, even though they were popular for a while and played a part in many famous NBA moments.
If this episode focused solely on the history and cultural relevance of dunks, it would have been more interesting and fitting for a series with dunk in the title. And even if it had talked about the evolution of NBA shooting tendencies and each type of shot’s influence on pop culture, that would have made for a neat one-off podcast somewhere. Instead, it feels like the episode tried to tack on a few extra minutes by mentioning the hot-button issue of three-point shooting and name dropping the reigning NBA MVP.
Episode Three: Missing Milestone
For a story about missing video of the first dunk in women’s basketball, the milestone itself was surprisingly secondary. For 25 years, Georgeann Wells never got to see her historic accomplishment. This story and video are neat, but I am still confused as to why Wells’ head coach, Kittie Blakemore, wanted someone who could dunk so badly. Between a perturbed coach and film that was assumed to be destroyed, the story around the film of Wells’ dunk is arguably more fascinating. With some help from Reed Albergotti (then at the Wall Street Journal and now at The Information), the film was found and eventually shown to Georgeann Wells, 25 years after the moment. Hearing how it influenced dunking in modern women’s basketball is a great way to end the story.
My only complaint with this episode is the medium. I would have liked to see the dunk video after hearing all of the lead up to it, but at least there is mention of an available link on ESPN.com. Dunking is a rare occurrence in women’s basketball, but learning about how it began in the women’s game and how it has evolved since was a great inclusion in the series. Was it a feminist statement from Wells and Blakemore in the midst of second- and third-wave feminism?
Episode Four: Toronto’s Big Bang
Before even tuning into this episode, I think we can all guess what this is going to be about: Vince Carter’s 2000 Slam Dunk Contest and its aftermath. Adnan Virk hosted an episode on the growth of the sport up north, pinpointed on the founding of the Toronto Raptors in 1994/95. Locals supported the team strongly, even if they were clueless to the game itself.
Then the Raptors sucked. A lot. Fans stopped showing up. The NBA’s other Canadian team of the 1990s, the Vancouver Grizzlies, had to move to Memphis because of poor performance and attendance. The Raptors got lucky when they traded for Vince Carter, who immediately became a fan favorite. He wasn’t known in the States, but that changed in 2000.
The 2000 Slam Dunk Contest was Carter’s coming out party. He also helped lead the Raptors to the first playoff appearance in franchise history, giving a sense of pride to locals. That season inspired a new generation Canadian youth eager to play basketball. Raptors forward Cory Joseph and Cavaliers big man Tristan Thompson talked about Carter during the podcast, with Thompson even referring to Carter as the Canadian Michael Jordan.
This episode was less about Carter’s dunk and more about the legacy of his victory on an international stage. Parts of this story have already been told, but it was necessary to tell as part of this series. However, not having video meant I could not see Carter’s dunks as they were being discussed, another disappointment of the medium. Even though I knew the story already, I still really enjoyed the episode.
Episode Five: The Last Dunk
Kevin Wildes and David Jacoby discussed the current state of dunking and people who get paid just to dunk basketballs. Between Team Flight Brothers and mention of ESPN’s City Slam program from over a decade ago, this episode was about the pre-YouTube and early YouTube era of viral dunks. This episode also features Chuck Millan, who runs Team Flight Brothers.
Wildes goes as far as arguing that dunk creativity has reached its apex, even discounting the stellar 2016 NBA Dunk Contest. He believes that there is a limit in dunk opportunities and that dunking will follow figure skating with a plateauing difficulty curve. I’m not sure the two ever come to a resolution, but the discussion is somewhat entertaining when Jacoby suggests landing after dunks should be judged.
Was this episode interesting? Sure. Was this episode really a dunkumentary? Not really. For a five episode mini-series, there should be too much information stuffed into the episodes. It honestly felt like one of their planned stories fell through and they had to fill a fifth episode somehow. Unlike the other episodes, this one felt a lot like a normal podcast.
I really enjoyed listening to the Dunkumentaries episodes, but is podcasting the best option for this type of series? In episode one, not being able to see Dee Brown’s dunks made it feel like something was missing from the story. In episodes three and four, mentioning links to the dunks that were referenced was a nice option, but it still meant I had to go out of my way to find the videos. These also happened to be, in my opinion, the best episodes of the series, so while I missed the video, it wasn’t a series killer. Video would have added something that was missing from the audio, but not having the video did not ruin it, either.
Long-form storytelling usually doesn’t find its way into podcasts, which are a more conversational medium, but that didn’t make Dunkumentaries better or worse than another podcast, just different. The stories themselves, especially in episodes one, three, and four, kept me engaged and made it difficult for me to press pause. Long-form work like this miniseries is among the best of what ESPN produces. Another difference compared to typical podcasts is the style of the pre-roll SeatGeek ads. After episode one, Jacoby told two of the series’ producers, Joe Sykes and Emma Morgenstern, to buy tickets for a Brooklyn Nets game on the app. Prior to episode two, Morgenstern talked about using the app and buying tickets on there. Episode three showed how you could transfer tickets between people and episode four was Morgenstern taking a train to the game and seeing a SeatGeek ad. The final episode was the two producers at the game with the SeatGeek app. Could these more relatable ads find their way into ESPN’s other podcasts? I actually listened to these instead of fast forwarding through the ads like I normally do on podcasts. Side note: since a couple of these episodes were produced by “Podcast” Joe Fuentes, this is likely one of his final ESPN jobs before leaving for Bill Simmons’ The Ringer.
I think ESPN made a mistake by releasing all five episodes at once instead of allowing for week-by-week build up for the series. iOS podcast presets only let two new episodes download at once, so I had to manually download the others within the feed tab. People may not realize this exists and miss episodes. With an episodic format, ESPN could have promoted the series on their other feeds (which they already have) and also allowed for interest to grow with episodes released during the NBA playoffs.
I also have a problem with the episode order. As far as I can tell, there is no through line between some of the episodes and it feels like they were numbered almost randomly. Chronological ordering of events would have allowed for both binge and episodic listening, giving ESPN would have had another reason to space the episodes out.
ESPN Media Zone lists Dunkumentaries as the “first” podcast miniseries from ESPN Audio, so it’ll be interesting to see what comes next. So many stories have been told through shows like E:60, SportsCenter Featured, 30 for 30, Outside the Lines, and The Sporting Life, and those are just a handful of ESPN’s platforms. Other sports networks have documentary series and features, as well.
I’m sure there are plenty of stories left to tell, but does that make them worth telling? I could see audio retrospectives of an event narrated almost completely with interview responses working well here. Something like Bill Buckner, John McNamara, Mookie Wilson, and plenty of others talking about the 1986 World Series would be interesting. Episodes could range from the series’ early games, the moment from each person’s perspective, and the aftermath for both teams. There is a recent documentary on the 1986 Mets, but considering it is the 30th anniversary of that series, I have a feeling it will get mentioned somewhere later this year. It would feel like an abridged version of a James Andrew Miller audiobook or a single story told week-by-week from different perspectives, similar to a certain popular NPR podcast.
Overall, Dunkumentaries isn’t ESPN’s version of Serial, and that’s okay. It is still worth a listen and will entertain sports fans as long as they have a more than passing interest in basketball. Sports stories that are deep enough for the Serial treatment have already been told in real documentaries, including ESPN’s phenomenal 30 for 30 series. I just hope ESPN’s future podcast miniseries are released episodically.
Note: An earlier version of this post said none of the episodes are longer than 20 minutes in length. One episode is longer than this. Also, Joe Sykes was mistaken for Joe Fuentes. The post has been updated to fix these mistakes.
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