Three-time NBA Champion Dwyane Wade was born on Jan. 16, 1982.
With over 5,000 players in NBA history, at least one player was born on every day of the calendar year – including three leap-day ballers. Our day-by-day breakdown of the players born on each day of the year continues.
Below are the most notable NBA players born on Jan. 17.
Dwyane Wade (1982)
Arguably one of the best players over the last 30 years, Wade played 15 of his 16 NBA seasons with the Miami Heat. Selected fifth overall by Miami in the 2003 NBA Draft, Wade made 13 All-Star appearances throughout his career. He led the league in scoring in 2008 after averaging 30.2 points per game. Most notably, Wade won three championships with Miami and took down Finals MVP in 2006. He also leads the franchise in minutes played, games played, field goals, points scored, assists and steals. He has nearly double the number of points, assists, and steals of the players in second place in those categories. Wade was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame induction in 2023, and he’s widely regarded as the King of South Beach. His statue is proudly displayed outside the Heat’s arena, after all. In total, Wade averaged 22 points, 4.7 rebounds, 5.4 assists, 1.5 steals and 0.8 blocks per game over his 16-year career.
Want to see every NBA player born on January 17? Here is the rest of the list in chronological order:
- Donnie Forman (January 17, 1926)
- Tony Jackson (January 17, 1958)
- Sam Worthen (January 17, 1958)
- Dick Menniefield (January 17, 1961)
- Barry Stevens (January 17, 1963)
- Earl Clark (January 17, 1988)
- Casper Ware (January 17, 1990)
- Tyler Zeller (January 17, 1990)
- Allonzo Trier (January 17, 1996)
- Ayo Dosunmu (January 17. 2000)
