I often joke that I was raised on fruity pebbles and reruns of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. While Keisha Knight Pulliam was one of my many crushes growing up, my adolescent media intake was more SportsCenter than Nick At Night. Furthermore, it was specifically shaped by my favorite athletes as a kid—Reggie Miller, Gary Sheffield, and Terrell Davis. Among those three, Reggie Miller stood out. I was shy, introverted and kept to myself. Contrary to popular belief, Reggie was like that off the court to a degree. However, he was just the opposite on it. He was brash, confident, bold and a bit disrespectful. He did everything, but shut up and dribble.
Reggie introduced me to a world of NBA players that were much like me and what I hoped to be. Over time, I traveled back to the days Lou Alcindor and Oscar Robertson. As a result, I walked into the first episode of Showtime’s Shut Up and Dribble not as a critic, but as a part of the story like many other fans.
The first episode of the Showtime series paints a picture that is largely accurate, but not complete. With that, there is the first downfall of the series. The first episode paints a picture of who Bill Russell, Lou Alcindor, Oscar Robertson and many more were and continue to be in this day and age. However, the fact that the series is only three episodes limits the depth in which the show can go. As a result, viewers get glimpses of who Professor Harry Edwards was and his relationship to Lou Alcindor. Viewers also get a taste of one of the NBA’s most colorful characters, Oscar Robertson. Unfortunately, it’s hard to get a full picture of who Mr. Robertson is in only a matter of minutes. In the end, the episode covers nearly thirty years of history in just a matter of moments. In many ways, it’s like the section on Black history in your school textbook that is one chapter and you only get to talk about for one class period.
Beyond the limited run time of the series, Shut Up and Dribble touches on a number of topics that are often glossed over in other basketball documentaries. Among the many topics discussed in the first episode, the Showtime series spends a good amount of time discussing the ABA-NBA merger. For those who are unaware, professional basketball was once spread into two leagues. Furthermore, there was no free agency in either league, salaries were low and the leagues were largely characterized by race and culture. In short, the merger of the two leagues in the manner in which it happened shaped the NBA as it is today. Unfortunately, many documentaries don’t dive into that moment in history for what it’s worth. In addition, the series premiere also touches on Isaiah Thomas’s infamous comments about Larry Bird. While many documentaries will play into the idea that Thomas was attempting to downplay Bird’s talent, Shut Up and Dribble provides context for what Thomas was attempting to articulate. To put it simply, Shut Up and Dribble is arguably the first major basketball documentary to properly characterize Thomas’s comments about Bird. Thomas was wrong for what he said, but there is a good amount of truth in his comments as well.
The first episode hits a high note as it closes out. Viewers are left with the cliffhanger of wondering how Michael Jordan fits into all of this. Given that the documentary is being cosigned by the league and produced by LeBron James, it’s hard to believe that the second episode will be overly critical of Jordan. With that being said, there has always been a criticism of Jordan’s ability to be socially conscious during his time in the NBA and it would be hard to ignore that. Moreover, it would be hard to see contributors like Larry Wilmore not touch on the matter in a comedic way.
