Dwyane Wade's legacy with the Miami Heat is unmatched, so it's no surprise that the three-time NBA champ was the first Heat player to be honored with their own statue outside the Kaseya Center. But the unveiling ceremony on Oct. 27 quickly became the subject of jokes online.
Many fans felt the statue looks nothing like the Heat legend, with some remarking that it looks more like Laurence Fishburne than Dwyane Wade. "[It] looks like a zombie Laurence Fishburne about to chomp on a human," one person wrote on X; another commented on Instagram "That ain't Wade; that's Morpheus from [The] Matrix."
Dwyane Wade’s new statue. ???? Looks like a zombie Laurence Fishburne about to chomp on a human. pic.twitter.com/G9lM5G8j8Y
— FB_Helmet_Guy (@FB_Helmet_Guy) October 27, 2024
ESPN NFL reporter Jeff Darlington chimed in on social media adding to the chorus. "The Miami Heat should’ve had a contest where they showed this picture to 1,000 fans, and anyone who guesses it’s Dwyane Wade gets to keep the statue," he said.
The Miami Heat should’ve had a contest where they showed this picture to 1,000 fans — and anyone who guesses it’s Dwyane Wade gets to keep the statue. pic.twitter.com/sqG6pFaOUz
— Jeff Darlington (@JeffDarlington) October 27, 2024
Sports commentator Bill Simmons didn't hold back his thoughts on the matter on the Oct. 27 episode of The Bill Simmons Podcast.
“The biggest loser of the day was Dwyane Wade who had the worst statue of all time," he said. "It looked like somebody who had emerged from a fire and lived. It was like Jim Carrey’s [Fire Marshal Bill] sketch [on In Living Color]. Can you imagine having a statue look that bad of yourself being unveiled? What would you even say? ‘Uh, thanks?'
"There’s never been a worse sports statue ever," he added.
Commenters on the video similarly saw the Laurence Fishburne resemblance, saying the statue "looks like Morpheus being tortured by the agents before Neo and Trinity rescue him."
For his part, Wade was overwhelmed by the love while also quipping about the statue's appearance. "That's crazy; who is that guy?" he said after the statue made its big debut.
Dwayne Wade has priceless reaction after looking at his new statue, which looks nothing like him.
— Global Index (@TheGlobal_Index) October 28, 2024
“That’s crazy. I can’t believe it… Who is that guy?” pic.twitter.com/bKs6GzFjDS
"This is crazy," he told the crowd after the unveiling, per CNN. "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 off to the next thing… I wanted to feel this, man. I wanted to look at it."
It's not the only NBA player statue to be roasted recently. Back in April, Philadelphia 76ers star Allen Iverson was memorialized with a statue, though many observers believed the statue was too small to honor an NBA giant. By contrast, Wade's bronze statue stands at over eight feet tall.
