The Miami Heat held a ceremony outside their arena Sunday to inaugurate their first player immortalized in a statue.
Fans knew it would be a moment to honor Dwyane Wade, the most accomplished player in franchise history. By the time the statue had been unveiled, however, many were left perplexed by what they saw .
The statue went viral Sunday over its portrayal of Wade’s face, seemingly unrecognizable from his likeness.
Wade, for his part, appeared to enjoy the ceremony and basked in the moment on Sunday and defended the look of the statue on Monday.
‘If I wanted it to look like me, I’d just stand outside the arena and y’all can take photos,’ Wade said via the Associated Press. ‘It don’t need to look like me. It’s the artistic version of a moment that happened that we’re trying to cement.’
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Regarding all the social media jokes, Wade said, ‘I care, but I don’t. 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.’
Wade, one of the six former Heat players to have his number retired by the team, was heavily involved in the creation of the statue, which was sculpted by Omri Amrany and Oscar León of Rotblatt Amrany Studios. Wade said he traveled to Chicago four times to meet with the sculptors and to provide feedback on its progress.
The other Heat players with their numbers retired are Udonis Haslem, Chris Bosh, Tim Hardaway, Shaquille O’Neal and Alonzo Mourning.
In June 2021, the Miami-Dade Board of County Commissioners designated a small stretch of NE 7th Street across from Biscayne Boulevard in Miami, directly in front of the Kaseya Center, as Dwyane Wade Boulevard.
The Heat will honor Wade in an in-game ceremony Monday night, when the team hosts the Detropt Pistons, which marks the 21st anniversary of Wade’s debut during his rookie season.
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The Associated Press contributed to this report.
(This story was updated to add new information.)
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