Dwyane Wade is teaming up with Noah Eagle as NBC's broadcast team for the Summer Olympics in Paris, and I gotta say, so far so good for D-Wade. He has the unique perspective of being a former Olympian, all-time NBA great, and he isn't afraid to get a little weird. What else could you ask for?
I'm not talking "weird" like Olympic opening ceremony blaspheming The Last Supper with drag show stars weird, although it's somewhat adjacent to that. I'm talking about Wade referring to his old Miami Heat/Team USA running mate LeBron James via he/him pronouns.
https://twitter.com/NBCOlympics/status/1817601083809902799
https://twitter.com/LADEig/status/1817589209026437398
How else could you refer to LeBron as anything other than "The King" or "HIM" or "THE GOAT" considering he's about to enter his 22nd NBA season — plus playoffs, plus Olympics, etc. — and can still do this:
https://twitter.com/ArtButSports/status/1817608611566162305
The Americans blew out Serbia 114-90 to tip off group play, which is no surprise. What was stunning despite their combined, known greatness was the near-perfect first-half display Kevin Durant and LeBron put on to set the tone for the American side.
https://twitter.com/NBA/status/1817592573428367772
D-Wade couldn't help himself.
Granted, "HE HIM" or "HE IS HIM" is popular phrase among young folks when referring to God-like performance on the field/court. But the "his pronouns are" prefix sounds a little wonky. Almost like a dad trying to be cool (insert obligatory Steve Buscemi skateboard meme).
But once he opened Pandora's Pronoun Box, he couldn't stop, which led to some hilarious reactions from basketball X/Twitter.
https://twitter.com/ScooterMagruder/status/1817600123267850559
https://twitter.com/LakeShowYo/status/1817594059227353334
https://twitter.com/philfanacc/status/1817600189072314715
https://twitter.com/JoeCoyne9/status/1817600221209084201
https://twitter.com/NevaMiss24/status/1817598400172527716
https://twitter.com/t_parker9/status/1817590946868928960
https://twitter.com/BPortisSzn/status/1817600233833984458
https://twitter.com/ctv_mack/status/1817600393771180198
https://twitter.com/hardROClife/status/1817588895615521217
https://twitter.com/emi_f1sher/status/1817589071625261134
https://twitter.com/OsheaJacksonJr/status/1817590904485785938
Worth noting for a little context here: Wade's daughter, Zaya, came out as transgender in 2020, leading to the NBA star creating the online community Translatable to support transgender families and children. So I guess, he has a little more latitude than your average broadcaster to scheme up a pronoun-based catchphrase.
With NBC returning to NBA coverage, I wonder if D-Wade is on a trial run of sorts to be a commentator for this coming season. Not sure what his experience was prior to the Summer Olympics, and I know some people will blast him for any passing mention of pronouns. However, I think D-Wade could bring some real insight (well, hopefully beyond "I know him") and star power to NBC as they seek to reestablish themselves in the pro basketball space, especially since so many will be missing Charles Barkley and the Inside the NBA TNT crew.
We'll see. The task at hand is to get us through the Summer Games and hopefully be on the call for yet another Team USA gold medal.
