Wade Named Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year Wednesday, December 27, 2006
Dwyane Wade, whose NBA Finals MVP performance led the Miami Heat to the franchise's first championship, has been chosen as the 2006 Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year for symbolizing in character and performance the ideals of sportsmanship, it was announced by SI Group Editor Terry McDonell.
The Sportsman of the Year issue, which is dated December 11, will hit newsstands this Wednesday, December 6. SI.com/sportsman includes the tribute to Wade as well as exclusive video segments, galleries of past Sportsman covers and My Sportsman nominations from dozens of SI writers. Wade will receive the new Sportsman of the Year award, a sterling silver trophy crafted by Tiffany & Co., at a party in his honor in New York on Thursday night, December 14.
Tuesday, December 5, at 10 p.m. ET/PT, HBO's Costas Now will celebrate Wade's selection and profile the year's top performers and newsmakers.
"This award has always stood for more than the victory alone. It recognizes the manner of an athlete's striving and the quality of his or her efforts," said McDonell. "Dwyane embodies that winning spirit by playing for his team, not himself, and by working in the community to ensure young people have the chance to realize their own dreams."
SI senior writer S.L. Price profiles Wade in the magazine and chronicles both his difficult childhood and his disciplined rise to stardom. Price writes, "But here's the factor, more than any other, that may decide if Dwyane Wade can survive even success: he likes difficulty. Ease makes him anxious. Perfect makes him squirm. But set him up with an early childhood from hell? Put him in a two-game hole in the Finals? He dares you to doubt him."
In only his fourth season in the league, Wade has established himself as one of the sport's premier players and as the standard bearer for a new generation of NBA superstar. Elevating his game when the stakes are highest, Wade has scored more postseason points in his first three seasons than any other player in NBA history. His Finals MVP honor adds to a deep resume of two All-Star Game appearances and a career-scoring average of 22.9 points per game. His credentials off the court are as impressive as the leadership he displays among his teammates. The Dwyane Wade Foundation, a nonprofit promoting social enrichment, education and physical fitness among youth, assists young people in reaching their educational and athletic goals through mentoring.
Wade is the fifth NBA player to be named Sportsman: Bill Russell (1968), Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (1985), Michael Jordan (1991) and Tim Duncan & David Robinson (2003). He is also the youngest player on the NBA/SI Sportsman list. (In addition, NBA player Rory Sparrow was named as one of eight Athletes Who Care in 1987.)
The last Miami-area recipient was former Dolphins' coach Don Shula (1993).
posted by Brandon Schenz @ 9:56 AM,
