2006 Sportsman: Dwyane Wade

SI Staff | Dec 4, 2006

2006 Sportsman: Dwyane Wade

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At 24, Wade is the youngest NBA player to win the award. The other NBA winners were Bill Russell (1968), Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (1985), Michael Jordan (1991) and Tim Duncan and David Robinson (2003).

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Wade led the Miami Heat to their first championship last year and was named the Finals MVP.

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Dwayne Wade is the sixth NBA player to win the Sportsman of the Year award.

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Wade will receive the Sportsman award at a Dec. 14 party in New York.

John W. McDonough/SI

The Dallas Mavericks were up two games to none on the Heat in the NBA Finals, before Wade led Miami to four straight victories.

Bob Rosato/SI

Wade played two seasons at Marquette before being drafted with the fifth pick in the 2003 NBA Draft.

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People magazine named Wade one of its 50 Most Beautiful in 2005.

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Though he averaged 27 points and 11 rebounds in his senior year of high school in Chicago, Wade was recruited by only DePaul, Illinois State and Marquette.

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A highly religious person, Wade wears the number three because it represents the Holy Trinity.

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Wade scored 42, 36 and 43 points, respectively, in Games 3, 4 and 5 to help turn the tide against Dallas in the championship series.