DWYANE Wade no doubt left an indelible legacy with the Miami Heat, having won three NBA championships with the proud franchise while leaving behind a plethora of magical moments in his time donning the black and red.
In his 15 year career with the Heat, Wade averaged 22 points, 5.4 assists and 1.5 steals, winning the Finals MVP in their 2006 championship run, before winning two more with LeBron James as probably one of the greatest ‘Robins’ in league history.
With the Heat, he was also named to the All-NBA First Team twice, the second and third team thrice each, and was named an All-Star 13 times during that stretch.
Now, he’ll physically be immortalized outside the Kesaya Center (formerly American Airlines Arena) with a statue, unveiled on Monday morning (Philippine time).
"This is nothing I ever thought I'd experience,” Wade said during the ceremony.
"I didn't play for this. I didn't pick up the basketball for this. I picked up a basketball to change my family's life."
The statue immortalized the play where Wade hit the game winner over the Chicago Bulls, his hometown team, stood on the scorer’s table and shouted “this is my house,” to the thousands of adoring Heat fans.
“I feel like it has to be something when the fans think of you, when they think about your career, they think about your life, what’s the first thing that comes to mind?” he shared.
“So if you’re a fan of myself, if you’re a fan of the Heat, I’ve had a lot of my moments, I don’t think there’s a lot bigger than that one,” he added.
“The ‘This is my house moment’ is the biggest of my individual career. This was the individual moment for me.”
WHO’S THAT GUY?
There’s only one problem though. The statue looks nothing like Wade.
While statues can be one of the biggest milestones for an athlete’s career, it can be pretty much hit and miss, most evident in 2017 when Cristiano Ronaldo’s statue looked nothing like the dashing and charismatic footballer which stole fans’ hearts.
Now, it’s Wade’s turn to be immortalized, and safe to say, save for the matching jersey and number, the resemblance can’t be seen.
“That’s crazy, I can’t believe that, who’s that guy?” Wade said in jest.
Of course, the internet will never let it die down.
Morpheus?
Asian Wade
Fatality
Guessing contest?
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