Miami—Dwyane Wade is now the first player to have a statue outside the Miami Heat’s home arena.
The statue has been in the works for a while to honor Wade, who led the Heat to three NBA championships and is the team’s all-time leading scorer. Next to the statue is a wall that lists his career achievements.
Wade is the first player to have a statue outside the Heat’s home. When Wade learned about this, he expressed surprise and gratitude to his fans. However, many people on Twitter had strong reactions to the face of the statue.
D-Wade: "Who is that guy?"
— Oh No He Didn't (@ohnohedidnt24) October 27, 2024
We're all wondering the same thing man lol https://t.co/n9cJWk51uV pic.twitter.com/CFKKfBwn2t
— Harrison Faigen (@hmfaigen) October 27, 2024
Miami Heat did Dwyane Wade dirty pic.twitter.com/ZRIPoNhxFA
— Ahmed/The Ears/IG: BigBizTheGod 🇸🇴 (@big_business_) October 27, 2024
Quickly, many noticed that the face of the statue did not look very realistic. Many feel that the statue does not resemble Wade at all and instead looks like actor Laurence Fishburne. They compared the controversy of this unveiling to the 2017 incident with Cristiano Ronaldo’s airport statue.
Looks like they finally made Ronaldo a new statue 😂 https://t.co/IUAo52WiVk pic.twitter.com/oMYnVjWom9
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) November 27, 2017
Cristiano Ronaldo’s statue was unveiled in March 2017 at Madeira Airport. However, that statue looked very different from Ronaldo himself, leading to widespread criticism from fans who felt it disrespected the football superstar.
Now, Dwyane Wade’s statue has also sparked a lot of discussion online. Do you think Dwyane Wade’s statue looks like him?