It didn’t take long for Dwyane Wade to settle in as the lead analyst for basketball at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Wade, who previously did analyst work for Turner Sports’ coverage of the NBA, has put the headset back on to call the tournament’s premier games alongside play-by-play announcer Noah Eagle. As the two continue to develop chemistry, their broadcasts have been filled with references to memes and pop culture in addition to numerous callbacks to Wade’s Hall of Fame playing career.
As much fun as the duo has had on the call, it’s Wade who appears to be having the time of his life. And, like all analysts, Wade seems to have decided upon a signature call, opting to say a player’s pronouns are “he him” when they begin to thrive on the floor.
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Here’s more on Wade’s new signature call and why you may want to get used to the Hall of Famer using it.
MORE: Revisiting Dwyane Wade’s Olympics career with Team USA
Dwyane Wade’s ‘he him’ call, explained
During Canada’s win over Greece on the opening day of basketball at the Olympics, Wade used his signature call multiple times about superstar Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
“That’s the comfort for [Canada]. They know they have who I say was the MVP of the league last year, they have somebody who’s very special, and like I said, his pronouns is he him,” Wade said as the broadcast aired a highlight of Gilgeous-Alexander hitting an isolation triple.
One day later, Wade used his new signature call about each member of Team USA’s veteran duo of Kevin Durant and LeBron James while the elder statesmen combined to shoot 13-of-13 from the field in the first half of the game.
After the game, Wade took to X (formerly Twitter) to make the call stick more, quoting a post of James and saying “Y’all know the pronouns: HE/HIM” along with a crown and a laughing emoji.
Y’all know the pronouns: HE/HIM 👑 😂 https://t.co/WNbD9GWMLA
— DWade (@DwyaneWade) July 28, 2024
Wade’s call is a play on words and derives from the athletes — and other FIBA announcers — who say “I’m him” after a big play is made. Texans WR Stefon Diggs and Lakers guard Austin Reaves are two notable examples.
The other half of Wade’s call derives from online platforms where users can list their preferred pronouns together. For those who choose “he/him/his” pronouns, the words he and him are next to one another, hence Wade’s usage of a slash in his X post.
So, rather than the player saying “I’m him” Wade is saying “he (is) him” while drawing from the order in which “he/him” is listed in social media platforms.
With Wade being the voice of the biggest games at the Paris games, get used to a new signature call. Two days in, there have been a number of stars worthy of the “he/him” billing.
