“Now I could understand what these players go through when we so-called criticize them,” Shaquille O’Neal admitted about his role as an analyst. However, that hasn’t stopped him or his ‘best friend’ Charles Barkley from criticizing players. Several players have been on the receiving end of the stick from the Inside Crew. And now the former employee of TNT, Dwyane Wade has spoken about his new role at the Olympics.

The Miami Heat legend recently appeared on the TODAY show and spoke about donning the old hat as a color commentator for the 2024 Paris Olympics. He said that he understood the game from different perspectives and was ready to share his knowledge. “Like I know the game from so many different perspectives. Sometimes as an athlete when you get on the side and you start talking about the game, people expect you to criticize the players or be hard on the players and that’s not my brand. ” Dwyane Wade also spoke about his approach to his latest gig.

“And so I look to go in and bring some real color to the player’s mindset to getting ready for the Olympics to be in those atmospheres and how you perform.” Earlier when the news broke of his joining NBC, he said he was thrilled to be part of the Team USA Men’s Basketball games. Calling it an honor to witness players’ journeys in person. And to share this special experience with viewers in pursuit of the gold.

Dwyane Wade did not take the names of Shaquille O’Neal and Charles Barkley while describing his role. But it is understandable since O’Neal and Barkley have been under fire for going overboard with their criticism. Let’s have a look at a few instances where the Inside Crew was on the receiving end.

Dwyane Wade avoiding these mistakes of Shaq and Barkley

At the end of last year, ‘Chuck’ and Shaq called out Williamson for being out of shape for the Pelicans. However, later Shaq clarified that the comments did come from a place of concern. He called it his unique way of motivating players just like he did with Kobe Bryant. O’Neal said he would purposely discredit Kobe and his plays. This would make Bryant angry and in turn, perform better when he was challenged.

Another analyst called out Shaq and Barkley for not watching the NBA games. Kendrick Perkins accused them because he felt the duo unnecessarily downplayed the Knicks. In return, the Inside guys were given a punching bag exercise with Perkins’ photo on it. Chuck even called out the former Celtics player as a “roach.” The former NBA champion only had an issue when called out “roach”. Apart from that Perkins called it fun and games.

So Dwyane Wade has seemingly taken an approach to not criticize players, considering his former Heat teammate is also on the team. LeBron James and Co. would love to perform like the Dream Team of 1992 and Wade would seemingly be calling on the moment if the team eventually gets the gold.

Stay tuned for more such updates, and to follow what Shaq’s ex-agent, Leonard Armato, has to say about the infamous Shaq-Kobe feud, Caitlin Clark’s Olympic snub, and more, watch this video.