The Miami Heat honored Dwyane Wade by unveiling a statue of the basketball legend outside of Miami’s Kaseya Center, cementing his legacy with the team and making him the first Heat player to have a statue outside the arena.
The statue was unveiled during a ceremony on Sunday, about eight months after team president Pat Riley announced plans to cement Wade’s legacy with the Heat, according to the NBA.
“This is crazy,” Wade said after the statue was unveiled. “I wanted to feel this. Life goes by so fast and it’s very rare that we get to feel things because we’re always moving on to the next thing. … I wanted to feel this, man. I wanted to watch it.”
In comments after the unveiling, Wade said he never expected this moment.
“I didn’t play for this,” he said during the ceremony. “I didn’t pick up basketball for this. I picked up basketball to change my family’s life.”
He also said he was “one of the luckiest men in the world” because “people believe in me.”
The statue, designed by Omri Amrany and Oscar León of Timeless Creations, stands in front of the Kaseya Center.
Wade was clearly taken aback by the statue, saying, “That’s crazy. I can’t believe it. Who is that guy?” just moments after first seeing it. After taking his place on stage in front of the statue, he turned around several times to admire the giant version of himself with a smile on his face.
But Wade’s online fans weren’t so enthusiastic, saying the statue didn’t look much like him.
One user on X joked about Wade’s “who is that guy?” comment, saying, “We’re all wondering the same thing.”
The statue appears to show Wade celebrating, with his mouth wide open, his eyes squeezed shut, and his arms raised as he points downward.
Another user joked that the image was actually of “Wayne Dade,” and a third compared it to actor Laurence Fishburne.
“The Miami Heat should have a contest where they show this to 1,000 fans — and whoever guesses it’s Dwyane Wade gets to keep it,” ESPN reporter Jeff Darlington joked on X.
When Wade was asked at a press conference Sunday about the moment he saw the image, he said he thought, “That’s beautiful.”
“I think it’s one of the best statues ever made because of what it represents to us and to me,” he said.
Wade played 13 seasons with the Heat, from 2003 to 2016, before leaving for a season with the Chicago Bulls, followed by a season with the Cleveland Cavaliers before returning to Miami for his final season in the NBA.
Next to the statue is a wall that lists Wade’s numerous career accomplishments, including being the Heat’s all-time leading scorer.
According to the NBA, Wade is one of two players to have played on all three Miami Heat teams to win NBA championships. The other is Udonis Haslem.
His own team calls him “the greatest player in Miami Heat history” and he is one of six former Heat players whose numbers the team has retired.
Wade, a member of the Basketball Hall of Fame, was one of the Heat’s Big Three, along with Wade, LeBron James and Chris Bosh, from 2010 to 2014. During their time together, the Heat won two NBA championships and four Eastern Conference championships.
Wade was also part of the gold medal-winning team at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and won a bronze medal at the 2004 Athens Games.
The celebration continues Monday when Miami takes on the Detroit Pistons in what the team is calling “a special Wade-themed game night,” with video tributes and a halftime speech from Wade.
Monday’s game also marks the 21st anniversary of Wade’s first game with the team, according to the NBA.
At Sunday’s unveiling, Wade was appreciative and thanked fans for following his career. After unveiling the statue, he added, “I believe I’ve given you something carved in stone to hold on to.”
“This is my home,” he concluded. “I’m leaving.”