Dwyane Wade responds to statue hate: "It don't need to look like me"
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Dwyane Wade looks on at his new statue outside the Kaseya Center. Photo: Miami Heat/David Alvarez
Critics of Dwyane Wade's new statue say it looks nothing like him – but the Heat legend played a key role in designing it.
Catch up quick: The eight-foot bronze statue – which depicts Wade's iconic "This is my house!" celebration – quickly became an internet meme Sunday after the Heat unveiled it outside the Kaseya Center.
- Some observers say the statue looks more like Lawrence Fishburne or the zombie from "I am Legend" than Wade.
His response: Wade told reporters Monday that he didn't care about opinions on social media, though he did find the Fishburne comparison funny.
- He said he feels honored to be the first Heat player with a statue at the arena and was glad to share it with his family.
- "It don't need to look like me. It's an artistic version of a moment that happened, that we're trying to cement."
The intrigue: Wade, who called the statue "beautiful," told reporters he spent four days consulting with sculptors Omri Amrany and Oscar León.
- Wade, who posted photos on Instagram posing with the clay version of the sculpture, says he was impressed by the level of detail in the finished product.
- "I am a detail-oriented person…" Wade said at a Sunday press conference. "It was a beautiful process to be a part of."
What they're saying: "I think [the statue] looks clearly how Dwyane Wade sees himself," veteran sports reporter Rachel Nichols told The Dan LeBatard Show with Stugotz on Monday.
- "That's not a dig. It's because he had the most input on this. And in the end, it's for him."
Wade was so involved in the process that he had the sculptors measure the distance between his nose and lips to be as accurate as possible, Nichols said
- "If he's doing that level of detail, it tells me that the rest of it, he was like, 'Oh yeah, this is it.'"
About those details: Wade told reporters that the sculptors even got the right brand of gum (Big Red) that he was chewing during the iconic 2009 game-winning shot that the statue immortalizes.
- His parents' names are carved on the heels of his shoes. And he's standing on a replica of the scorer's table that he leapt onto after hitting that buzzer-beating three-pointer.
Yes, but: Wade is wearing the wrong jersey in the statue.
- During that 2009 game, the Heat were honoring the Hispanic community with "El Heat" uniforms.
What we're watching: Heat president Pat Riley hinted that the team would someday build a statue of Udonis Haslem, too.