If you contribute enough to your team, you might be immortalized with a statue in their home stadium, according to the sports world.
No one in the basketball world was shocked when the Miami Heat decided to commemorate the renowned shooting guard with a statue of his own since no one personifies the team more than Dwayne Wade.
Although the concept was clearly sound, the way it was carried out was a little strange. To be honest, the monument does not resemble Wade at all, and the NBA community has taken notice on Twitter, X, and other platforms.
Wade’s first comments, such as asking “who is that guy?” as soon as he saw the statue and then smiling and shaking his head, somewhat fueled the fire. He somewhat retracted that idea, though, saying that the monument does not have to be a perfect replica of him because its purpose is to evoke his time with Miami rather than to provide a precise likeness.
Wade may be attempting to repair the damage on behalf of the team he owes so much to, therefore it is unclear how sincere this emotion is. Let us take another close-up of the statue itself for reference.
If Wade’s famous #3 Heat jersey had not been incorporated into the sculpture, no one would have known that he was the subject. Wade’s longtime opponent Paul Pierce, another well-known shooting guard from the 2000s, offered his opinion on the matter, stating that “they did [his] child wrong” in relation to the statue. Pierce claimed that if he had not been informed that it was Wade, he would have assumed it was a likeness of Tony Allen, despite the fact that numerous other lookalikes have been recognized by social media users.
Unfortunately, the commemoration of a brilliant Miami career has been eclipsed by the sculpture’s poor craftsmanship. Wade played for the Heat for portions of 15 seasons, including the first 13 and the last 1.5 of his career. Along with a long list of All-NBA choices and All Star Game appearances, he won three titles and a scoring crown with the Heat.
In terms of games and minutes played, field goals and missed free throws, points, assists, steals, and numerous other statistical categories, Wade is the franchise’s all-time leader. Even though Miami has produced all-time greats like Shaquille O’Neal and LeBron James, Wade is without a doubt the team’s greatest player of all time and should be recognized as such. It is unfortunate that the physical monument to his achievements does not resemble him a little more.
