Dwyane Wade explains unique signature broadcasting call

Dwyane Wade has been a refreshing voice on men’s basketball during the Paris Olympics for NBC, bringing experience for Team USA as well as a clear passion for the game. Wade also has repeatedly dropped a call in big moments playing on the pronouns of star players and the internet meme calling athletes “Him.”

When a star like James or Canada’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander makes a big play, Wade has taken to saying, “I know him personally, and his pronouns are he/him.”

In an interview with NBC News released Friday , Wade acknowledged the line will go over some fans’ heads , but it’s all part of him being himself on the call .

“A certain generation understands what I’m saying, another part has no idea,” Wade told NBC News.

“This is new for me. They told me to be myself. So me being myself, I said what I said. It’s not a thing I’m going to say every game. It just happened in those moments. I’m just trying to bring my excitement across.”

It’s exactly the kind of reference that a younger audience can relate to. However, Wade knows that discussing gender on air or pulling social and cultural references to the broadcast can also be offputting.

Wade’s daughter Zaya came out as transgender when she was 8 years old, and both Wade and his wife Gabrielle Union have become staunch advocates for the community in the years since. Wade publicly criticized the state of Florida last year, stating his family would “not be accepted” there which led to their move to California.

As a result of his public advocacy and willingness to speak his mind, Wade knows a potential broadcast career could be harder to come by.

“It has to be the right situation for me,” he told NBC News. “My platform is so different, I speak on so many things, I stand for certain things, I don’t know if everybody stands for what I believe in.”

Wade worked in the studio for TNT until 2021 before returning to broadcasting in Paris. With NBC and Prime Video buying NBA rights starting next season and ESPN still charting its future after the departure of JJ Redick, there will be jobs available.

Wade can afford to be selective, and he wants the environment to be right if he signs on to call games.

“It’s a lot of conversations that would have to happen for me to feel comfortable. It has to be the right partner for me,” he said. “Who am I working for? Who am I working with? If I can find all those things I’m looking for, if I get compensated the way I feel like I should get compensated, then yeah, I’m definitely open to it.”

Wade clearly has priorities beyond making money talking hoops, and these Olympics have been a taste of the full Wade experience as an analyst.

[ NBC News ]

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