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NBA | Sep 13

Heat Nation Rejoices: The Flash Gets His Statue

Dwayne Wade’s Legacy in Miami Grows as the Franchise Announces an 8-Foot Statue for the Icon

Scott Kacsmar Scott Kacsmar
- 4 minutes read
Heat Nation Rejoices: The Flash Gets His Statue
Dwyane Wade #3 of the Miami Heat/Streeter Lecka/Getty Images/AFP

Miami Unveils Statue Plans

A member of the NBA’s 75th Anniversary Team, Wade was one of the best to ever do it…

Hall of Famer Dwyane Wade is as important as any player in the history of the Miami Heat organization. On Thursday, the team announced the NBA news that Flash will be getting his own statue outside the Kaseya Center on October 27, 2024, when the new season begins. He will have a ceremony a day later at the home game against Detroit.

Wade’s statue was announced in January when Hall of Fame coach Pat Riley surprised him with the announcement of an 8-foot-tall statue coming in 2024, the first statue for any Miami Heat player. Leave it to NBA rumors about what kind of pose Wade will be making in his statue, but hopefully, it will be a good one that showcases his athleticism.


With respect to Alonzo Mourning, Wade is the Heat player most worthy of a statue in Miami. Yes, LeBron James may have brought his talents to South Beach to win a few more championships in the 2010s, but he never went there if he didn’t know what Wade was capable of.


Let’s look back at some of the career highlights for Wade, a player I first learned about in 2003 when he led Marquette to a clutch win over my Pitt Panthers in the Sweet Sixteen. Little did I know he’d become one of the best guards in NBA history.

 

Dwyane Wade: Miami’s Franchise Player

Dwyane Wade was the No. 5 pick in that famed 2003 NBA draft class with LeBron James, He Who Shall Not Be Named, Carmelo Anthony, and Chris Bosh. Team president Pat Riley was behind the Wade draft pick, the best one he ever made for the Heat.


It was Wade who led his team to a championship first from that draft class in 2006 after Riley took over as coach again during the season. The Heat were down 2-0 in the NBA Finals to the Mavericks before an epic Game 3 comeback where Wade scored 42 points with 13 rebounds.


In a pivotal Game 5, Wade made a pair of free throws in the final seconds in a 101-100 win. In the decisive Game 6, Wade clinched Finals MVP honors with 36 points, 10 rebounds, 5 assists, 4 steals, and 3 blocks – the only known game in NBA playoff history where a player reached those numbers.

Dwyane Wade’s stats in the 2006 Finals: 34.7 points (his highest in any playoff series), 7.8 rebounds, and 3.8 assists per game.

 

From Olympic Gold to Statue

Wade led Team USA’s 2008 “Redeem Team” in scoring on their way to a gold medal. Wade then won his only NBA scoring title in 2008-09 when he averaged 30.2 points per game, including a career-high 55 points against the NY Knicks. But needing some help around him, he joined forces with LeBron and Bosh in 2010, leading them to four straight NBA Finals with a pair of rings in 2012-13.


Numerous injuries were the only thing to really slow down Wade. After briefly playing for the Bulls and Cavaliers, he finished his 16-year career in Miami. He posted his fifth triple-double in his final NBA game in 2019:


A member of the NBA’s 75th Anniversary Team, Wade was one of the best to ever do it. Now he gets a statue in Miami.

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