Despite being in France for the Paris Games for more than a week, Dwyane Wade has spent only one night in the City of Light.
The basketball Hall of Famer is calling Olympic men’s basketball for NBC, but the games have been taking place in Lille for the first week before they’ll move to Paris for the knockout stage.
“Listen, I am grinding right now,” Wade told NBC News this week. “I’m in broadcaster world. I’m traveling with everyone, I’m staying with everyone. I didn’t want to be away from the [broadcast] team. And I’m having a good time when I’m on air.”
Wade has called the first two group games for the U.S. men’s basketball team, which is looking for its fifth straight gold medal. In addition to his NBA career, during which he teamed up with and played against most of the current crop of Olympians, Wade himself was part of the 2008 team that won gold in Beijing, leading that squad in scoring.
That gives him unique insight into what he believes is one of — if not the — best teams ever assembled in the sport.
“This team is so deep, in six games we’re not going to get an opportunity to see how dope this team really is,” Wade says. “But I know basketball. And I know with my own eyes I have not seen a team like this. My ‘08 team was very good, but I don’t know if we was as deep as this team.”
Wade has had a front row seat to the action, as the men have decisively won their first two group games against Serbia and South Sudan. Over those two games, the elder statesmen on the U.S. roster have continued to shine, namely LeBron James and Kevin Durant. (“You’d be a fool to be surprised,” Wade says of their success.)
But while the established names on the team have been on solid ground, coach Steve Kerr has had to make difficult decisions with other parts of the roster, particularly when dealing with so much talent. Against Serbia, reigning NBA champion Jayson Tatum didn’t play. Against South Sudan, former NBA MVP Joel Embiid never saw the floor.
In 2008, Wade was two summers removed from winning NBA Finals MVP but he still came off the bench that summer. He says the advice he would give the players who aren’t playing consistently yet is “when you get your opportunity, put your imprint on the game.”
“The ultimate goal is to be standing on that podium as a gold medal winner,” Wade says. “No one really cares that I led [the 2008] team in scoring. All they care about is we won the gold medal. It’s way bigger than you. You have to come in with the mindset that ‘I’m going to do whatever it takes to ultimately get us on that stage.’”
Wade adds that 16 years later, what he remembers the most from playing in 2008 is the experience of competing with so many other great players. Even though he was rivals at the time with the likes of LeBron, Chris Paul and Kobe Bryant, Wade says he was “so thankful” to play with other legends, and that goes a long way in taming the competitiveness among players who are normally standing in the way of one another (in case you’re wondering how guys who just faced off in the playoffs can be friends).As far as the other teams that have caught his eye, Wade has been particularly impressed by Canada and France. And he makes a good point about the U.S.’s status as overwhelming favorites — it only takes one off night.
“This is not a seven-game series,” Wade says. “All they gotta do is be better than you on one night. There’s so many compelling teams, any given night, if Team USA don’t bring their A-game, they could be in a dogfight.”
Even with some lopsided finishes so far, Wade’s enthusiasm hasn’t wavered on the broadcast. He admits he’s having a great time calling the games.
Wade has even debuted something of a signature call — “I know him personally, and his pronouns are He/Him” — something he says was spur-of-the-moment excitement.
“I did not have it in my back pocket,” Wade says. “When I was watching the Canada game, Shai [Gilgeous-Alexander] did something, it just came out. A certain generation understands what I’m saying, another part has no idea.
"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.”
Wade’s joy for the game has earned him some positive reviews as a color commentator, as well as for his partnership with Noah Eagle. The two sound like they’ve been calling games for years, not days. Wade describes Eagle as a star teammate “with no ego,” and credits Eagle for allowing him to feel good on the call.Wade has sounded so comfortable that people are wondering if he could be in the mix for a permanent seat once NBC begins airing the NBA again at the start of the 2025-26 season.
After walking away from a role in the TNT studio a couple seasons ago, Wade says he is “definitely open to the idea” of returning to television.
“I’ve never been an analyst. Jumping into the Olympics has been a big challenge,” Wade says. “It has to be the right situation for me. 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.
“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. 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.”