Ahead of Sunday’s matchup against the Charlotte Hornets, the Miami Heat honored three-time NBA Champion and team legend Dwyane Wade. Wade has been an integral part of the franchise, delivering the first-ever championship in the Heat’s history.

The team honored Wade by unveiling a life-sized statue of Wade outside the Kaseya Center in Miami. However, as the statue was unveiled, fans were left shocked. The statue vaguely resembled Wade, with many criticizing and trolling the statue for its design flaws.

Even though social media came down heavily upon the design of the statue, the Heat Legend seems to think differently of it. Dwyane Wade spoke about the statue and its significance to him in a press conference.

Dwyane Wade speaks about the statue:

“Personally biased, I think it’s one of the best statues ever created…” #HeatNation pic.twitter.com/N5Jae9txwS

— Zachary Weinberger (@ZachWeinberger) October 27, 2024

Wade spoke about the emotions he felt going into the ceremony, and he termed the statue ‘one of the best ever created’ because of what it represented to him. Many legends from the Miami Heat organization and from across the league chimed in on the greatness of Wade at the ceremony.

Heat Legend Udonis Haslem, President of the Miami Heat Pat Riley, and Wade’s son Zaire were amongst many who honored the Hall of Famer. The statue itself, however, has come under heavy fire.

Many online have trolled the statue for not even closely resembling Wade. While the statue holds tremendous emotional significance for Wade, it’s not hard to see why many fans have been critical of the design flaws in it.

Which Dwyane Wade moment does his statue represent?

Dwyane Wade is arguably the greatest Miami Heat player of all time. While LeBron James played for the Heat, Wade’s career in Miami put the Heat on the map as a perennial contender in the NBA.

With a career spanning almost 15 seasons with the Heat, it may be hard to know which moment defined the legacy of Wade. The answer to that is in 2009.

Wade, the 2006 NBA Finals MVP and champion in 2012 and 2013, has a number of iconic moments throughout his career. But perhaps his defining moment with the Heat came during a match against the Derrick Rose-led Chicago Bulls in 2009.

In a tightly contested match that went to double OT, the game was tied at 127-127 with just seconds left in the game. The Flash stripped Chicago’s John Salmons of the ball, putting up a last-second hail mary to win the game at the buzzer.

As Wade scored the game-winning shot from deep, he jumped onto the announcer’s table to proclaim his legacy with the Heat. “This is my house,” Wade screamed in front of a packed-out American Airlines Center, creating the iconic photo that we saw sculpted into his statue.