Dwayne Wade defends his Heat statue after fans argue it looks nothing like him

Dwayne Wade recently became the first Heat player to ever be celebrated with a statue outside of the Kaseya Center, but something else caught on everyone’s eye this weekend during the unveiling of the monument. Apparently, fans from all over have dedicated themselves to point out the fact it doesn’t look at all like the Hall of Fame.

This is why the former superstar dedicated himself this Monday to explain the statue’s look and process of creation. “If I wanted it to look like me, I’d just stand outside the arena and y’all can take photos,” he said a day after the unveiling. “It don’t need to look like me. It’s the artistic version of a moment that happened that we’re trying to cement.”

The moment the artist was depicting was at the end of a match against Chicago in March 2009, just as he made a shot right at the buzzer of a double-overtime clash. He recalled he hopped over a curtsied table and shouted. “This is my house.”

Dwayne Wade on his statue:

“WHO’S THAT GUY.” 😭😭😭 pic.twitter.com/NGL7ZN2NYX

— NBACentel (@TheNBACentel) October 27, 2024

His hands are very reminiscent of that special moment, but his face simply doesn’t look like Dwayne. “I care, but I don’t,” he assured. “The social media world is about opinions. Everyone has an opinion. Everyone, use y’all opinions. Please talk more about us. Talk more about a statue, come on down to see it, take some photos, send some memes. We don’t care.”

That same night, as the Kaseya Center held a halftime ceremony during their game against Detroit, Wade took the mic and told the crowd that the statue was mostly for them, as there are very few franchise that have made an investment to celebrate their biggest stars with a moment of this kind.

“There’s only a few organizations that have a statue outside. There’s not even 15 players who played this game of basketball that have a statue outside. We — we — have a statue outside,” he told the audience and defended the work by saying that it is “art at its finest.”

Wade recognized the importance of the moment depicted on the statue and insisted that the Miami fans should take care of their house. “So, don’t let nobody talk about our house. Because this is our house. They’re on the outside. Leave them out there,” shared the South Beach icon.

Wade also defended the work done by the sculptors, who dedicated a total of 800 hours to create the monument which involved the star in the process

The creation of this statue was no easy task and Dwayne saw the process from up close. Not only did it involve around 800 hours of work to make it, but Wade became an essential part of the development. He had already seen parts of it before the unveiling and praised the work once again this Monday.

“I don’t know a lot of people with a statue. Do you? Anybody here, you all know anything about the process of a statue? No one out there do neither,” the 42-year-old said. “And so, it’s an unbelievable process to be a part of. And it’s a complicated process.”

The unveiling of the moment was a special moment that included many members of Wade’s family, as well as members of the Miami organization. His former head coach guaranteed that the statue is there to remind us all what greatness really is.

“It was a great celebration for all of us,” Heat tactician Erik Spoelstra expressed during the ceremony. “We love to celebrate greatness. We love to celebrate all these iconic players, iconic moments.”