Dwyane Wade's Miami Heat statue criticized by fans: 'Looks nothing like him'
An 8-foot statue meant to honor Dwyane Wade's legacy in the NBA is drawing criticism from fans who say the statue is not a slam dunk.
Wade was joined on Sunday by his family, including wife Gabrielle Union-Wade, for the statue's unveiling at the Kaseya Center in Miami, where Wade made history in his 13 seasons with the Miami Heat.
The bronze statue immortalizes the moment in 2009 when Wade proclaimed, "This is my house," after scoring the game-winning shot in a double-overtime win against the Chicago Bulls at home.
The Miami Heat shared a video of the statue unveiling on Instagram with the caption, "Our franchise's greatest legacy, forever cemented."
The video shows Wade viewing and taking in the statue before being joined by his family members.
"I was just like, 'That's beautiful," Wade said of the statue during a news conference Sunday, according to the Miami Herald. "I'm biased, but I think it's one of the best statues that's been created because of what it represents for us and for me."
Fans were less complimentary of the statue on social media, where many criticized it, saying it looked nothing like the retired NBA star.
"So when is the unveiling of the actual WADE statue because that ain't Wade… that's someone else in a heat jersey," one commenter wrote on Instagram.
"That does not look anything like Dwayne [sic] Wade. Heat get your money back," wrote another.
Commenters seemed to hold most of their criticism for the statue's portrayal of Wade's face, with one person writing, "Bro fix the face PLEASE how do they get the other details right and mess up the face this hard."
"FIX THE FACE ON THE STATUE @miamiheat," another person commented on a separate Instagram post showing Wade and his family celebrating the designation of a local road, renamed Dwyane Wade Blvd.
The statue was made by Omri Amrany and Oscar León, sculptors with Rotblatt Amrany Studio in Chicago.
Both Wade and the sculptors said the Heat star was heavily involved in the creation of the statue.
"It was a beautiful process to be a part of," Wade said, according to the Miami Herald. "I think I visited Chicago about four times. I think I stayed in probably about four hours. Each time, it was just a great collaborative process with the Miami Heat, with Fine Art Studio and also myself and my family. So it was cool."
León confirmed that Wade visited the design studio "multiple times."
"It was that last visit with those last little tweaks that he got to see firsthand. After that, we really do kind of trust the process. The bronze brings out a level of depth and shine and this vibrancy that you cannot get in the clay," León said. "The clay absorbs a lot of light, where this bronze has this nice quality that you just can't picture what that's going to look like. But we trust the process."
Rotblatt Amrany Studio, which has also created statues of Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan, features a photo on its website of Wade in the design studio, writing, "The studio got to spend time with Wade over the past year in order to capture his likeness in bronze."
Wade said that it was his choice to have his "This is my house" moment immortalized with the statue, describing it as the "biggest moment of my individual career."
"I was like, people are going to be driving and they're going to look up and I'm going to be like: 'This is my house,'" he said. "I was like, 'That's going to be pretty cool from the street.'"
"Good Morning America" reached out to Studio Rotblatt Amrany for comment but did not immediately hear back.
