Dwayne Wade has progressed from a career as an NBA player to being an NBA analyst and is now a part-owner of the Utah Jazz. The choices have helped him to be associated with all the facets of the NBA world. Recently, the player shared a post on Instagram from an interview with ‘IDEA GENERATION‘. He was asked about NBA analysts needing championships as a pre-requisite to critique a player. Having done it all, Wade was probably in the best position to answer the question.
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The three-time NBA champion, after retiring from the game, worked briefly for TNT as an NBA analyst. He got a first-hand account of an analyst’s mindset and knowledge about the game. There have been situations where an analyst has gotten too harsh on a player’s performance. This has led to retaliation from the player. This eventually led to questioning the analysts’ credentials. However, Wade doesn’t believe in the NBA championship being a mandate to critique players.
Dwayne Wade says analysts need not be champions to criticize players
In an interview by ‘IDEA GENERATION’, Dwayne Wade was asked if NBA analysts require a championship to critique other players. The question has attracted many debates over the years. A lot of the media channels have analysts who have not played the game of basketball but earn a living discussing the intricacies of the game. Here is Wade’s response to the question:
“No. So many different people know the game. You know, you don’t just have to be a champion. There are guys who are champions who don’t know the game of basketball. They just know how to put the ball in the basket. Or be in a team that allowed them to be in a position to win a championship. So, not at all!”
According to the NBA superstar, there have been many NBA champions over the years, who know how to play the game but can’t break down the game like an analyst would. Having worked with award-winning sports analysts like Ernie Johnson, he has been privy to the knowledge they have gathered by following the sport.
With the entry of podcasts, retired NBA players have been talking about the game on social media platforms. However, it is debatable if their point of view is better than a non-playing analyst. Each of them looks at the game through a different lens. The difference in opinion is what leads to interesting debates.
Players calling out analysts for their opinions
There have been many occasions in the past, where a player has taken offense to an analyst’s comments about them. Some of them have questioned the credibility of their opinion, considering they haven’t played the game themselves and this has led to back-and-forth among the players and the media.
Jalen Rose called out Skip Bayless’ playing credentials while debating on a topic. He implied that Skip hasn’t played enough basketball to question his opinion. Several players like Kwame Brown and Kevin Durant have taken to Twitter to question the analysts’ credentials when they were criticized.
