Wade’s Olympic remarks ignorant

Mary Lou Retton once said this: “For athletes, the Olympics are the ultimate test of their worth.”

Memo to Dwyane Wade: She wasn’t talking about financial gain.

Wade is one of the world’s best basketball players who obviously employs an agent and public relations team that thinks on its feet faster than Usain Bolt runs on his.

It took less than 24 hours this week for Wade to understand — or, more likely, be reminded by the suits — that his claim about American athletes needing to be paid for participating in the Olympics was neither intelligent nor correct.

You have to think those compensated for crafting Wade’s image on and off the court with the Miami Heat immediately began typing a statement for their client to memorize while publicly refuting his original thoughts.

I have a feeling once his people inquired about the pay-to-play comments, Wade reacted as George Costanza when confronted about having sex with a cleaning woman at work: “Was that wrong? Should I not have done that? I tell you, I gotta plead ignorance on this thing, because if anyone had said anything to me at all when I first started playing for the U.S. team that this sort of thing is frowned upon …”

Frowned upon is an understatement.

Americans don’t get paid to participate in the Olympics. Not the wrestlers or gymnasts or sprinters or fencers or weightlifters or basketball players. They never should get paid, never for a second suggest representing this country with honor and dignity and respect should include a paycheck.

But that’s what Ray Allen of the Celtics did and what Wade then supported before backpedaling Thursday as if he were covering a go-route.

This is the Olympics: The kayaker who isn’t good enough to live at the U.S. training center, who sleeps on the couches of friends and scrapes by waiting tables and lifting weights in old boathouses where he must close his eyes so as to not have rust from the ceiling fall in them, who begs and borrows and pleads to have enough money so he can fly around the world at the small chance of winning enough races to qualify for the Games and get soundly beaten in the first round.

Who earns in a year what Wade does over a few offensive possessions.

Wade has every right to demand compensation for playing. Mike Krzyzewski as head coach has every right not to select him because of it, although I would think Wade’s spot is secure given he’s one of the best players and there might be a little more pressure on Krzyzewski to win in London following that oh-so-forgettable loss to Lehigh by his Duke team in the NCAA Tournament.

But before the Americans board a plane for the home of Big Ben, the suits need to remind Wade that it’s an honor to represent the U.S.

It’s a privilege.

A simple answer to Wade or any other athlete who thinks his or her time and effort is worth a salary: Stay home. Watch the Games on television with everyone else. Don’t compete.

Wade should have paused before foolishly speaking about getting paid, should have realized that compensation for an NBA player of his stature at the Olympics comes in the form of sponsorship, should have known his name and brand will only increase in London through a Nike contract that already pays him $12 million annually.

Nike also sponsors USA Basketball. If the Americans repeat their effort from Beijing four years ago, when Wade led the team in scoring and it went undefeated in earning the gold medal, he will more than reap the financial benefits of such a result.

He just said something really stupid. When an athlete who made more than $26 million last year tells reporters he and his NBA teammates should gain — what, an extra $500,000 or so for slipping on the red, white and blue jersey? — the backlash will and should be swift and harsh.

Fact: The United States Olympic Committee pays a $25,000 bonus to its gold medal winners. Sponsors of athletes often add financial incentives. Those who perform well don’t go home with empty pockets.

Wade on Wednesday: “It’s a lot of things you do for the Olympics — a lot of jerseys you sell. We play the whole summer. I do think guys should be compensated. You’re giving up a lot to do it. It’s something you want to do. But it’s taxing on your body. You’re not playing for the dollar. But it would be nice if you would get compensated.”

Wade on Thursday: “I do not want to be paid to go to the Olympics.”

Nice job, suits.

There was a time when Costanza could have used you.

Las Vegas Review-Journal sports columnist Ed Graney can be reached at egraney@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4618. He can be heard from noon to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday on “Gridlock,” ESPN 1100 and 98.9 FM. Follow him on Twitter: @edgraney.