It is officially a fashion trend. Since he took a Juwan Howard elbow to the face earlier this month and needed six stitches, the ever-stylish Dwyane Wade has been brandishing a series of personalized Band-Aid-like adhesive bandages (not to be confused with Band-Aids, pictured here) under his left eye.
Soon, the creepy Miami Heat mascot, Burnie, followed suit, wearing a similar bandage under his eye.
Last night, Lil Wayne got in on the action. He showed up courtside wearing a red adhesive bandage to honor the NBA's leading scorer. (Fans might note that Lil Wayne, born Dwayne Michael Carter, Jr., uses the more traditional A-Y spelling of Dwayne. One that doesn't drive copyeditors insane.)
In the 103-91 victory over the slumping Pistons, Wade followed his career-high 50 points against Orlando with a career-high 16 assists. It was the 30th win of the year for the Heat, doubling the win total from last year with 26 games left to play.
After the game, D-Wade said he's calling the new fashion statement "Band-Wades." Whatever works.
Yahoo! sports chronicles the first few Band-Wades here.