Dwyane Wade’s second act is off to a great start.
Wade is currently in Paris working as a men’s basketball analyst for NBC during the 2024 Summer Olympics. The three-time NBA champion, who won a gold medal with Team USA in 2008 in Beijing, says wife Gabrielle Union has been providing him with tips to up his game.
“She texts me during halftime. I get to look at my phone and be like, certain things she’s like, ‘Ooh, OK, that was good’ or ‘Ah, that may be a little problematic.’ I get real-time feedback,” he said Aug. 7 on TODAY.
Wade says he appreciates any kind of criticism, noting his loved ones are behind him while he tries this new venture.
“They know that I’m about taking chances. This was a big opportunity for me," he said. "It was a big chance, to never do something like this and say, ‘You know what, I’m going to do it on an Olympic stage with the most listeners that have ever watched in the last whatever years that (are) watching sports ... Everyone’s supportive, man, and they love that I’m taking this opportunity on.”
The Hall of Famer says calling games has not been what he expected.
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“It’s different. I played in the Olympics and now I’m sitting center stage and I get a chance to watch it. I get to talk about what I know and players that I know,” he said.
Paris 2024 Summer Olympics and Paralympics
Watch all the action from the Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games live on Peacock
He also complemented his play-by-play partner, Noah Eagle, and all the people he’s been working with at NBC.
“They told me, they said, ‘Be yourself.’ And that’s the only way I was going to do this, if I could be myself,” he added.
Time will tell if Wade will work his way into calling any NBA games, as NBC has acquired rights to broadcast games starting with the 2025-2026 season.
Would he be interested in doing more work as an analyst?
“I would say absolutely. I’d say, ‘Now tell me more. What does that look like? Who is my partner?’ And that matters,” he said.
“The one thing that Noah told me right away is he was like, ‘Hey, bro, this is like the LeBron and you photo. I’m you and you’re LeBron. I’m going to lob it up to you and you do your thing.
You can hear Wade on the call once again when Team USA plays Serbia in the semifinals on Aug. 8 at 3 p.m. ET, with coverage on Peacock.
The winner of that game will square off against the winner of the earlier semifinal matchup between France and Germany.
This story first appeared on TODAY.com. More from TODAY:
