It’s All Business

The third-year NBA pro was named one of People magazine’s 50 Most Beautiful People – listed with Fantastic Four star Jessica Alba and Hollywood heartthrob Patrick Dempsey. In the May 19 profile, People’s ‘Most Beautiful Hoopster’ admits to getting facials and manicures with his wife, Siohvaughn, and having much in common with avid shoe collector Imelda Marcos and voluptuous-lip actress Angelina Jolie.

The next month, Men’s Fitness thought Wade had the body to go along with his stunning looks. In the June/July issue, Men’s Fitness named Wade one of the 25 Most Fit Men, a list that included USC signal caller Matt Leinart, actor Orlando Bloom and model Tyson Beckford.

With a pretty face and a body to match, there was only one thing left for Flash to do. This summer, the one-time All-Star made the transition from NBA superstar to supermodel with the help of hip-hop mogul Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs. Combs signed the 23-year old HEAT guard as the first athlete endorser for Sean John’s ‘Icon’ campaign. Wade appears on billboard and magazine ads to promote Sean John’s fall and winter clothing line. Diddy also vows to make Wade the first “NBA male supermodel.”

Just in case you didn’t know where the HEAT in Miami is coming from – it’s from red-hot Dwyane Wade. The NBA All-Star/supermodel has been hot since burning up the court during the 2004-05 season where he averaged 24.1 points, 6.8 assists, 5.2 rebounds, 1.57 steals and 1.06 blocks. Wade helped lead the HEAT to one game of the NBA Finals. Many in the marketing industry believe Flash could be the biggest NBA pitchman since Michael Jordan.

His jersey is among the league’s best sellers. He has appeared on ‘Live with Regis and Kelly’, the MTV Video Music Awards and won a coveted ESPY Award for Best Breakthrough Athlete, as well as being named the Sun-Sentinel Sportsman of the Year. He has also appeared on the covers of Dime, Moves, SLAM and Scene It magazine. He was named to ESPN the Magazine’s Top 25 Athletes and was featured on the cover of the September 2005 issue.

And after his remarkable postseason, where he dazzled NBA fans with legendary performances, it seemed like every company wanted a piece of Flash.

Wade presently has national deals with Gatorade, Topps and Converse. This summer, he was also named cover athlete for the popular EA Sports video game franchise NBA Live ’06.

And the deals keep rolling – all the way to the driveway.

Wade also locked up a local deal with Miami based Warren Henry Automobiles. In return, D-Wade received a newly designed Range Rover called Midnight Express – customized to D-Wade specifications. The customized Range Rover bears Wade’s ‘Flash’ logo and is complete with a quad exhaust system, tinted windows and 22-inch rims plus much, much more.

This summer was nothing but business for Dwyane Wade. But even with the distraction of stardom, Wade knows where he needs to take care of business first.

“It feels good to be recognized, but all the endorsements, the awards and other recognition are just by products of playing good basketball,” Wade said. “Basketball comes first. I’m going to continue to work hard on the court to bring a championship to Miami.”