Miami Heat’s Bronze Statue of Dwayne Wade Prompts Comments from Gov. Tim Walz and Charles Barkley

Getting a statue is a big deal for many athletes, a sign of significant achievement and recognition of their legacy. Unfortunately for three-time NBA champion Dwayne Wade, the 7-foot-3 bronze figure unveiled in front of the Kaseya Center has mostly prompted jokes and criticism it does not resemble him at all.

The statue was unveiled on October 27, supposedly in reference to the Miami Heat player’s “this is my house” gesture made in response to a double-overtime victory over the Chicago Bulls late in the 2008–2009 regular season. It was sculpted by Omri Amrany and artist Oscar Leon.

Almost immediately, images and video of the statue prompted negative reactions and jokes online about how much it did not resemble Wade. The Associated Press reported the statue trending globally on social media and was mentioned on national newscasts.

Comments about the statue now include Governor Tim Walz, currently campaigning as Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate; Charles Barkley, and The Atlantic staff writer Ross Andersen, who called it “The Worst Statue in the History of Sports“.

“It’s horrific, but D-Wade, what a class act,” Walz said on the The Dan Lebatard Show with Stugotz on October 29. “He’s like, ‘No this is really nice. I’m grateful.’. Yeah, I don’t know how they get that wrong. Wouldn’t you think they would show it to everybody first?”

Walz said the statue looked more like a famous actor.

“When I saw that, I thought Laurence Fishburne,” Walz said with a smile. “I said that really is Laurence.”

During TNT’s Tip Off Show that same night, host Ernie Johnson called the statue a great honor for Wade before Barkley remarked, “It’s a great honor, but they gotta take that thing down.”

Barkley later added, “If you made an ugly statue that’s what it would look like. That thing is awful.”

According to Front Office Sports, the firm employs 15 artists and has created many statues of athletes, including Shaquille O’Neal, Magic Johnson, and ten others around the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles; one of Kobe Bryant sitting courtside with his daughter Gigi; as well as one of Michael Jordan in front of the United Center that debuted in 1994.

Leon told NBC South Florida the concept for the statue began with a collection of photos of Wade that were turned into a clay model. Sixteen hours were spent with Wade at Amrany’s Chicago firm, Studio Rotblatt Amrany, who visited multiple times and was closely involved with the artists in the creation of the statue. There was also input from the athlete’s closest friends as well as executives of the Miami Heat.

“To the critics, there’s a lot that needs to be understood,” Leon said, noting more than 800 hours of work went into the sculpture. “We have to seal everything to keep the integrity of the sculpture. However, that does create a funny little side effect of being glossy in areas that we are not used to seeing when we look at somebody in the flesh.”

“The sealer definitely creates a little bit of, um, a misunderstanding to the eye. So, I would definitely encourage everyone to come to Miami and view it in person,” Leon said.

Wade is aware of the comments and criticisms of the statue. He defended its appearance, telling the Associated Press, “If I wanted it to look like me, I’d just stand outside the arena and y’all can take photos.”

“It don’t need to look like me. It’s the artistic version of a moment that happened that we’re trying to cement.”

Wade also lauded the production process. “I don’t know a lot of people with a statue. Do you? Anybody here, y’all know anything about the process of a statue? No one out there do neither,” Wade said. “And so, it’s an unbelievable process to be a part of. And it’s a complicated process.”