Dwyane Wade joined a small list of players in NBA history who have been honored by their organizations with a statue outside the team’s arena. The Miami Heat unveiled Wade’s statue outside the Kaseya Center yesterday, prompting fans to roast it as the statue looked nothing like Wade. The Heat legend discussed the statue at a press conference, explaining why he isn’t bothered by the lack of resemblance.
“What we wanted to do was capture a moment that represented the organization, represented myself, and represented the city. We felt like we captured that moment in artistic form, in an artistic way. If I wanted it to look like me, I would just stand outside the arena, you’all would take photos. It don’t need to look like me. It’s an artistic version of a moment that happened.”
“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, and send some memes. We don’t care.”
The statue has immortalized one of the most iconic Wade moments in Heat history, as it came after a March 2009 matchup against the Chicago Bulls.
After Wade sunk a buzzer-beater game-winner in double overtime, Wade jumped onto the announcers’ table courtside and yelled, ‘This is my house.’ The statue has done a good job of recreating the pose, but the face looks nothing like the three-time Heat champion.
Other 2000s Stars Have Also Gottem Statues
Wade is only the third 2000s great to have a statue outside the arena of the team that drafted him, joining Kobe Bryant with the Los Angeles Lakers and Dirk Nowitzki with the Dallas Mavericks. Even Kobe’s statue wasn’t perfect, with multiple spelling errors on the base of it, though they were corrected and Kobe’s face also looked great.
Nowitzki might have gotten the best statue in NBA history from the Mavericks in January 2023, as the franchise recreated his iconic one-legged fadeaway jumper with eerie accuracy.
More statues for 2000s legends could be incoming, with one for Tim Duncan in San Antonio seeming like an obvious one that the franchise needs to explore. The only other 2000s star who’ll likely get honored by their franchise with a statue is LeBron James with the Cleveland Cavaliers.
In terms of current players, it seems like a sure thing that we will see Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green immortalized as statues for the Golden State Warriors. Even if Green and Klay don’t get the statue treatment, there’s no conceivable way that Curry won’t get a statue for himself.
The other current players in contention for a statue are Nikola Jokic with the Denver Nuggets and Giannis Antetokounmpo with the Milwaukee Bucks. They’re both Finals and regular season MVPs who have been with one franchise their entire career. Even if they leave in their twilight, it’s hard to see how their teams won’t immortalize them with a statue.
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