Dwyane Wade saw the jokes and the criticism. He doesn’t care.
The former Miami Heat star spoke Monday about the new statue of him outside the team’s arena in South Florida, which has drawn widespread condemnation and jokes after many thought it didn’t look like him at all when revealed on Sunday.
“I care, but I don’t care,” Wade said, via associated press. “The world of social media is all about opinions. Everyone has an opinion. Everyone, use your opinions. Please tell more about us. Talk more about a statue, come see it, take pictures, send memes. We don’t care. »
Wade spent almost his entire Hall of Fame career with the Heat, whom he helped win three NBA titles. He is still the team’s all-time leading scorer and is the first player in franchise history to get a statue.
Even though it doesn’t really look like him, especially from the face, Wade loves it.
Why can’t we get statues of people…that look like the people they’re supposed to represent. Nobody sees Dwyane Wade here. pic.twitter.com/AMc36O7hVU
-Charles Robinson (@CharlesRobinson) October 27, 2024
“If I wanted it to look like me, I would just stand outside the arena and you all can take pictures,” he said. “It doesn’t have to look like me. It’s an artistic version of a moment that happened that we’re trying to cement.
Wade was directly involved in the creation of the statue, which took approximately 800 hours to complete. The moment was taken from a game against the Chicago Bulls in 2009 after Wade hit a buzzer-beater to lift the Heat to victory in double overtime.
Although he was quick to defend the artists who made his statue, he knows they can just laugh, ignore the criticism and move on.
“I don’t know many people who own a statue. Do you?” he said. “Does anyone here know anything about the process of making a statue? No one does either. So it’s an amazing process to be a part of. And it It’s a complicated process.
