NBA legend Dwyane Wade reacts to botched statue of himself: ‘A complicated process’

The Miami Heat unveiled a statue of their beloved legend, Dwyane Wade, on Monday, and it has not been well-received.

The statue is supposed to be of Wade, but it certainly doesn’t look like the three-time NBA champ at all.

The memes have come out of the woodwork, comparing the statue to Apollo Creed’s trainer and Morpheus.

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A general view of the new Dwyane Wade statue in front of the Kaseya Center.  (Rhona Wise-Imagn Images)

Wade, of course, has seen all the jokes and the criticism of the statue but is paying no mind.

“I have an iPhone. The social media world is about opinions. Everyone has an opinion. Use y’all opinions. Please, talk more about us. Talk more about the statue. Come out and see it. Take some photos. Send some memes. We don’t care,” Wade told the media after the statue was unveiled.

Dwyane Wade poses for a photo during Dwyane Wade’s statue unveiling on October 27, 2024 at Kaseya Center in Miami, Florida. (Issac Baldizon/NBAE via Getty Images)

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At the end of the day, Wade, one of the greatest players of all time, is not taking for granted that a statue of him exists — he even defended the process and the looks of it.

“It was a special moment yesterday, for my family and I. I don’t know a lot of people with a statue, do you?” Wade added. “Anybody here, y’all know anything about the process of creating a statue? No one out there do, neither. It’s an unbelievable process to be a part of. And it’s a complicated process. Sitting down with the Miami Heat, and myself, we wanted to capture a moment that represented the organization, and represented myself, and represented this city. We felt like we captured that moment in artistic form.

“If I wanted it to look like me. I would just stand outside the arena, and y’all could take photos. It don’t need to look like me. It’s an artistic version of a moment that happened, that we’re trying to cement.”

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Dwyane Wade #3 of the Miami Heat celebrates a victory over the Chicago Bulls on March 9, 2009 at the American Airlines Arena in Miami, Florida.  (Victor Baldizon/NBAE via Getty Images)

Oscar Leon, an artist behind the sculpture, said 800 hours of work went into the statue, 16 of them with Wade, using photos of Wade that were turned into a clay model with the help of some computers.

The pose of the statue is from Wade yelling, “This is my house” during a March 2009 game against his hometown Chicago Bulls.

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