Dwyane Wade
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Dwyane Tyrone Wade, Jr. (born January 17, 1982 in Chicago, Illinois) currently plays professional basketball for the NBA's Miami Heat. He played collegiately for Marquette University, leading Marquette to the Final Four in 2003. Perhaps his most memorable collegiate moment came in the 2003 South Regional Final in the NCAA Tournament. Against heavily favored Kentucky, Wade put up a triple-double, recording 29 points, 11 rebounds, and 11 assists to top the Wildcats 83-69. Wade's strong play in the tournament caused his NBA Draft standing to increase significantly, and he elected to forgo his senior year at Marquette. Selected 5th overall in the 2003 NBA Draft, Wade quickly became an emerging star on a young Miami Heat team. He distinguished himself with outstanding performances in the 2004 NBA Playoffs, particularly against the Indiana Pacers in the Eastern Conference semifinals. Unfortunetly, Wade's successful rookie season was overshadowed by the hype surrounding fellow rookies LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony. Wade was chosen as a member of the 2004 USA basketball team. Wade's scoring average has increased significantly this season and he and Shaquille O'Neal form one of the most effective guard-center combinations in the NBA today. Wade is considered by many to be an emerging NBA superstar. In the first round of the 2005 NBA playoffs (against the New Jersey Nets), Wade became one of only seven players in NBA history to average 25 points, eight assists and six rebounds while making half his shots in a playoff series, averaging 26.3 points, 8.8 assists, and 6.0 rebounds at 50% field-goal shooting. The other players to accomplish this are members of the Basketball Hall of Fame: Bob Cousy, Oscar Robertson, Wilt Chamberlain, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson and Michael Jordan. Amazingly, Wade accomplished this feat once again in the 2nd round of the 2005 playoffs against the Washington Wizards. The success of the Heat's 2005 playoff run and Wade's impressive performances with Shaquille O'Neal hampered by injury have lead to an explosion of media attention and popularity to the budding superstar.
Honors
- 2004 unanimous All-NBA Rookie First Team
- Member of the 2004 USA National Olympic Team that won a bronze medal
- Started in the Rookie Challenge in 2004
- Won Player of the Week honors during the week of Feb. 24, becoming the first Heat rookie to do so
- 2005 NBA All-Star reserve.
- 2005 People Magazine's 50 Most Beautiful People
- 2005 NBA All-Defensive Second Team
- 2005 All-NBA Second Team
External links
- NBA.com playerfile (http://www.nba.com/playerfile/dwyane_wade/index.html?nav=page)de:Dwyane Wade