MIAMI, January 26 – The Miami HEAT announced today that All-Star guard Dwyane Wade will defend his PlayStation Skills Challenge title at the 2007 NBA All-Star Saturday Night event in Las Vegas. The NBA All-Star Saturday Night event presented by EA SPORTS will take place at the Thomas & Mack Center on Feb. 17.

Having debuted during the 2003 NBA All-Star Weekend in Atlanta, the fast-paced event features four players competing in a two-round timed “obstacle course” consisting of dribbling, passing and shooting stations. All players must observe basic NBA ball-handling rules while completing the course. The two players with the fastest times from the first round advance to the finals with the order of competition determined by inverse order of the first round times.

Wade defeated Cleveland’s LeBron James in the final round of the 2006 PlayStation Skills Challenge by completing the obstacle course in 26.1 seconds, besting James’ 33.7-second time. New Orleans/Oklahoma City rookie Chris Paul and 2005 champion Steve Nash of Phoenix were eliminated in the first round with times of 42.6 and 52.8 seconds, respectively. Wade had the top first-round time with 39 seconds flat while James finished the course in 40.5 seconds to reach the finals.

The other participants in the 2007 PlayStation Skills Challenge will be announced on Monday, Jan. 29.