Longtime Miami Heat shooting guard Dwyane Wade became the first player in team history to have a statue.
The statue was unveiled on Sunday outside of Kaseya Center. Wade is the Heat’s all-time leading scorer and has played an integral role in all three championships the team has won. The championship Wade will always be remembered for is the 2006 NBA Finals in which he averaged 34.7 points, 7.8 rebounds and 3.8 assists in the series.
An in-game celebration will happen on Monday during the Heat’s game against the Detroit Pistons. This will be 21 years since Wade made his NBA debut, which was against the Philadelphia 76ers during the 2003-2004 regular season.
The statue also includes Wade’s various accolades such as his 13 All-Star appearances, two All-NBA first team selections and most notably, three NBA Championships. He is also a member of the Basketball Hall of Fame and one of six Heat players to have their jersey number retired by the team.
Since retiring from the NBA, Wade has stayed involved within the game of basketball as he has minority ownership stakes with both the Utah Jazz and Chicago Sky. He has wanted to take a hands-on approach with his involvements since retiring from playing.
While the statue was a great moment for both Wade and the Heat, it has received lots of backlash online from fans and critics. Many think that this situation is similar to when international soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo had a statue unveiling in his hometown of Madeira, Portugal. This is because the original sculpture received large amounts of negative publicity, forcing the sculptor to create another statue that received more positive reviews from fans. With Wade’s statue already receiving negative publicity, it will be interesting to see if the Heat decide to create a new one that better honors Wade’s legacy with the team.
https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/42040506/heat-unveil-statue-dwyane-wade-team-arena
