MIAMI, Feb. 23 - Miami HEAT guard Dwyane Wade was named the NBA’s Eastern Conference Player of the Week this afternoon after leading the HEAT to a perfect 3-0 week with all three victories coming by double figures (20.3 ppg scoring margin). Wade becomes the seventh player in HEAT history to earn NBA Player of the Week honors and the first since Eddie Jones received the honors on Jan. 7, 2002. HEAT players have now been bestowed Player of the Week honors on 12 occasions. Additionally he is the first HEAT rookie to garner Player of the Week honors and just the 21st rookie in NBA history. The 21 rookies have combined to capture the league’s weekly honors on 26 occasions. Steve Francis of the Houston Rockets was the last rookie to be named Player of the Week capturing the award on Jan. 24, 2000 and Vince Carter of the Toronto Raptors was the last rookie in the Eastern Conference to receive the honors, doing so on Mar. 21, 1999. Los Angeles Lakers’ guard Kobe Bryant was named the NBA’s Western Conference Player of the Week this afternoon.

“I think Dwyane is very deserving of the award,” said HEAT Head Coach Stan Van Gundy. “He obviously had a great week, and a very efficient week, shooting at a high percentage while leading us to three wins. He has excited the people here in Miami and we are excited about the future with him.”

Wade, a 6’4”, 212-pound rookie from Marquette University, averaged 27 points, 4.3 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 1.00 blocks and 35.3 minutes in Miami’s three victories. He shot 59.2 percent (29-49) from the floor, 50 percent (3-6) from three-point range and 83.3 percent (20-24) from the foul line. The fifth pick in the 2003 NBA Draft, Wade has now connected on at least 50 percent of his field goal attempts in each of his last 11 games, the longest streak by a HEAT player since Alonzo Mourning accomplished the feat in 11 straight games from Mar. 28, 2000-Apr. 16, 2000. He scored at least 20 points in each of the three contests last week and has now hit the 20-point plateau in each of his last four games, two shy of his franchise rookie record set in December. Wade enters tonight’s contest against Portland having scored in double figures in 10 straight games and in 25 of his last 26 contests.

Wade, who returned from All-Star Weekend on Monday where he scored 22 points and tallied four assists in the Rookie Challenge, began the week with a game-high 31 points, four rebounds, two assists, one steal and one block in a game-high 38 minutes in Miami’s 97-85 win over Utah on Feb. 17. In that contest he set career highs and HEAT individual highs for this season in both free throws made (14) and free throws attempted (17). The 31-point effort marked the third time this season he has scored at least 30 points, tying the franchise rookie-record for 30-point games set by Sherman Douglas during the 1989-90 campaign. The 31-point performance also matched the highest single-game total by a Miami player in the all-time series (35 games) against the Jazz (Glen Rice had 31 on Jan. 12, 1993). Wade followed that performance with 22 points, a game-high seven assists, two rebounds and a block in a team-high 30 minutes in Miami’s 33-point blowout of Atlanta on Feb. 20. He scored 14 of his 22 points in the second quarter, tying his career high for points in a quarter. He closed the week out the following night leading Miami to a 97-81 win over Denver. Against the Nuggets he recorded a game-high 28 points, seven rebounds (including a team-high four offensive boards), one steal and one block in a game-high 38 minutes. In that contest he registered a career-high five dunks, many of the spectacular variety. The five dunks were the most by a HEAT player in a game since Mourning totaled five at Detroit on Mar. 5, 2002.

The Chicago, IL native enters tonight’s game against the Trail Blazers averaging 17.1 points, 4.3 rebounds, 4.3 assists, a team-high 1.28 steals and 36.0 minutes. He has connected on a team-high 48.3 percent (260-538) of his field goal attempts, 34.3 percent (12-35) of his three-point attempts and 72.2 percent (135-187) of his free throw attempts. Additionally he leads the team in dunks with 39. Wade, who ranks second on the team in scoring average, has scored in double figures in 34 of his 39 games this season, including 13 games with at least 20 points and a team-high three 30-point efforts.