Dwyane Wade defends new statue's look amid jokes

MIAMI – Dwyane Wade's new statue celebrates a moment when his offense won a game. The feedback from the statue made him play defense.

Wade explained the statue's appearance and the manufacturing process on Monday, a day after the Heat unveiled the tribute. The statue – with a face that is, to say the least, not a perfect depiction of Wade – immediately became the talk of the town, trending worldwide on social media and even featured on national newscasts.

“If I wanted it to look like me, I would just stand in front of the arena and you can all take pictures,” Wade said Monday. “It doesn’t have to look like me. It’s an artistic version of a moment we experienced and want to capture.”

That moment was at the end of a game against the Chicago Bulls in March 2009, when, after the double overtime buzzer, he took a shot at the game-winner, jumped onto a courtside table and shouted, “This is my house.” The position of his hands in the statue commemorates this moment. But it's the face that generated almost all of the feedback.

“I care, but I don’t care,” Wade said. “The world of social media is about opinions. Everyone has an opinion. Everyone, use all opinions. Please talk more about us. Talk more about a statue, stop by to see it, take some photos, send some memes. “I don't care.”

Later Monday, in a halftime ceremony during the Detroit-Miami game — played on the 21st anniversary of Wade's debut with the Heat — Wade told the crowd that the statue was for them, too. He continued to defend the work, saying that the statue does not depict a human body and calling it “art at its finest.”

“There are only a few organizations that have a statue outside. There are not even 15 players who played this basketball game who have a statue outside. We – we – have a statue outside,” Wade told the crowd. “I am proud that I am the ship that is used, that I am the chosen one. I'm proud because we worked very, very, very hard to create an image that will last for a very long time.” That expresses what the Miami Heat, my family and our fan base are all about.

“So don’t let anyone talk about our house. Because this is our house. They are outside. Leave them out there.”

Sculptors said the statue took about 800 hours of work to make and Wade was directly involved in the process. Most people saw the statue for the first time on Sunday; Wade had seen parts of it along the way – including the face.

He praised the work of the sculptors.

“I don’t know many people with a statue. Do you know? Does anyone here know anything about the process of making a statue? No one out there knows that either,” Wade said. “So it’s an incredible process to be a part of. And it’s a complicated process.”

Wade – Miami's all-time leading scorer – is the first player in Heat history to receive a statue. The team hasn't said definitively whether it will add more in the coming years. The unveiling of the Wade statue was attended by many members of his family and many members of the Heat organization, among others.

“It was a great celebration for all of us,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “We love celebrating big things. We love celebrating all of these iconic players and iconic moments.”

Wade said some of the memes he laughed at suggested the statue looked more like actor Laurence Fishburne than the three-time NBA champion and Basketball Hall of Famer. He also said it was unfortunate that the artists heard negative feedback. Studio Rotblatt Amrany, a Chicago-area company, was commissioned to create the Wade statue.

“Every time they create something, someone has to come out and say something about their creation. They can’t do what they do,” Wade said. “I know how that feels because I’m an athlete, a former athlete. People talked a lot about me, but they couldn't do what I do. And that's how you learn to just laugh, watch it and learn.” So, we're good.