LeBron James dominated the league for 11 years as the league’s top annual player. His recent contract extension with the Lakers was a 2-year, $104 million deal. Even the league signed a massive $76 billion media rights deal over eleven years—significantly higher than the $24 billion for 9 years agreed back in 2014. Yet the Commissioner, Adam Silver, made some revelations, where he called players “truly unhappy.” And now Dwyane Wade endorses a similar thought process.

“Even when guys are playing in the NBA, they’re not happy. I know you know how many NBA players that you know are playing, and it’s a lot of kids’ dreams to be on that roster spot, and those guys that’s in that spot are complaining every day,” Dwyane Wade said on his namesake YouTube channel. While speaking about Zaire’s journey, the 42-year-old explained how difficult it is to be in that spot.

“Probably like 90% of the league, there’s only a few players that’s really happy with their role,” added Wade. Earlier in the podcast, the Miami Heat legend also explained that the journey is isolating. The commissioner shared a thought in 2019: “I think those players we’re talking about, when I meet with them what strikes me is that they are truly unhappy.” During the MIT Sloane Sports Analytics Conference a few years ago, Silver stated the downside of being a star player.

“When I’m one-on-one with a lot of these guys, I think to the outside world they see the fame, the trapping that go with it, you wonder ‘how can they be complaining?’ But a lot of these young men are genuinely unhappy…some of them are amazingly isolated,” added the NBA Commissioner. That is why Dwyane Wade wants to support his son, irrespective of his success as a player in the league. However, one superstar from the previous generation did not agree with this. He even blasted Adam Silver for passing such a statement.

Former player disagrees with the aforementioned assessment

“That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard any commissioner say — these guys are making twenty, thirty, forty million dollars a year. They work six, seven months a year. They stay in the best hotels in the world — they ain’t got no problems,” said Charles Barkley, who was not ready to accept that players might suffer from certain issues.

Yes, the players are breaking salary records season after season. Take Stephen Curry, for example. The Warriors superstar, with his extension, became the first player to cross basketball’s $60 million-a-year ceiling in 2026-27. Similarly, as per reports, after that season, Jayson Tatum would be the next player to earn $70 million a year.

That’s where Dwyane Wade, as a parent, has another point of view on his podcast, “So Z-Wade scores 21 night or Z-Wade score zero or one night, I may have a joke for him but the hug is the same.” Despite multiple attempts, even Zaire is hoping to turn his future around and earn his maiden call in the league.