Dwayne Wade: Sports Illustrated's Sportsman of the Year

Dwayne Wade recently won the award given out yearly by Sports Illustrated Magazine for the Sportsman of the Year. Dwayne Wade's new award came at a predictable time as he had captured the hearts and minds of fans everywhere after a dazzling display in the playoffs and against the Dallas Mavericks in the playoffs.

Dwayne Wade was drafted fifth in the NBA draft of a draft class that will go down quite possibly in NBA history as the best draft class ever. Notable emerging NBA stars that were drafted ahead of Wade include Lebron James, Carmelo Anthony and Chris Bosh of the Toronto Raptors. Dwayne Wade played his college ball at Marquette and the teams that passed on Wade in the NBA draft all believed that he lacked the shooting ability to compete in the NBA. Well Wade as certainly quieted any skeptics as he led his basketball team, the Miami Heat, along with center Shaquille O'Neil to a championship.

However, it wasn't just Dwayne Wade's basketball ability that won him the award. It was his unconditional love for his family, especially his mother who has battled from a drug addiction his entire life.

Dwayne Wade's life was deeply impacted by his older sister Tragil who taught Dwayne how to read and write and lessons in life to succeed. It was Dwayne Wade's sister who raised him in place of their mother, Jolinda. Dwayne Wade's mother was an alcoholic and heavy drug user and was hardly there for Wade growing up. Wade's mother and father got divorced which made maters harder for him. Wade mother was arrested and sentenced to probation and during that time Dwayne Wade lived with his father. It was his father who taught him the game of basketball and strived to make Dwayne Wade better and better.

Wade faced further adversity when he failed to score high enough on the ACT college level exam and had to sit out and could not play college ball until his score was high enough. Wade married his high school sweetheart Siohvaughn and has a happy marriage. Dwayne Wade has become a part of the community in Miami and often goes down to local community organizations to meet with young children and fans. He is a great teammate and only drives himself farther each and every challenge he runs up against. The adversity that Wade has faced and conquered far exceeds any kind of challenge he faced on the basketball court and he has been a better person for it. His name is never heard in the media for getting arrested or for trash talking an opponent. Quietly, he has emerged as one of the most explosive and energetic players in the league and the NBA are a better place because of him.