Dwyane Wade is now the first Miami Heat player with a statue outside the team’s arena, although many of his fans are unsure if it is a fitting tribute.
The Heat unveiled the statue Sunday, eight months after team president Pat Riley announced plans for the tribute. Wade, a 13-time All-Star, is Miami’s all-time leading scorer, and he and Udonis Haslem are the only players to have been on all three Heat teams that won NBA championships.
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“This is crazy,” Wade said at the unveiling. “I wanted to feel this. Life goes by so fast and it’s very rare that we get to feel things, because we’re always off to the next thing. … I wanted to feel this, man. I wanted to look at it.”
Others were less that gushing about the statue, which bears only a passing resemblance to Wade, and compared it to an infamous rendering of Cristiano Ronaldo that attracted widespread ridicule.
“Man who the hell is this??? The Miami Heat did Dwyane Wade filthy with this statue lmao,” one user wrote on social media.
Another referenced Wade’s move to the Chicago Bulls towards the end of his career. “When Pat Riley won’t give you max money so you have to sign with the Bulls,” they wrote.
Others suggested the statue looked more like the actor Laurence Fishburne than Wade.
Wade, a member of the Basketball Hall of Fame, is one of six former Heat players to have their number retired by the team – along with Haslem, Chris Bosh, Tim Hardaway, Shaquille O’Neal and Alonzo Mourning.
“As the greatest player ever in Miami Heat history, yes, it’s his day, it’s his family’s day,” Riley said.
The statue is accompanied by a wall listing Wade’s career accomplishments and has been placed outside the front doors of the team’s arena. Wade is now a part-owner of the Utah Jazz in addition to having many other business interests.
