A Monumental Disappointment
Who is that guy? – Dwayne Wade
Only the greatest athletes make the NBA Hall of Fame where they can be presented with a sculpted bust in their likeness. But you could argue that an even more exclusive club for the highest tier of athletes would get their own statue outside of a venue in the city where they were most famous.
When we heard the NBA news last month that Miami Heat legend Dwyane Wade was getting his own statue, it made sense. He was the face of the Heat for 15 seasons and helped the team to three championships, including their first in 2006 when he was Finals MVP.
On Sunday, the Heat honored Wade with a ceremony outside of Kaseya Center in Miami to unveil his statue. When the big moment came, the negative reaction was basically instantaneous. Who is this Silver Surfer cosplayer and has this artist ever seen a picture of Dwyane Wade before?
Dwayne Wade on his statue:
“WHO’S THAT GUY.” 😭😭😭 pic.twitter.com/NGL7ZN2NYX
— NBACentel (@TheNBACentel) October 27, 2024
“Who’s that guy” indeed, because he looks like the mannequin they used for Dave Chappelle’s dead body that was thrown out of the plane in Con Air.
NBA Fans Roast the Statute
As you can expect, the internet torched this statue immediately with a hilarious crop of memes. We can only share so many, but here are some of the best so far.
First, several have compared Statue Wade to actor Laurence Fishburne, who played Morpheus in The Matrix franchise:
They really turned D Wade statue into Morpheus from the Matrix 😭💀 https://t.co/2WempVCNgj pic.twitter.com/cqNDxaWWnN
— Hater Report (@HaterReport_) October 27, 2024
The ArtButMakeItSports account on X/Twitter wasted no time in serving up an apt comparison:
Three Faces of Man from ‘Power Play’ (1985), Judy Chicago, 📸 via @ohnohedidnt24 pic.twitter.com/DJ4chKIdzD
— ArtButMakeItSports (@ArtButSports) October 27, 2024
It starts to look even sillier when you put it in place of real pics of Wade like this iconic one with LeBron James:
The INTERNET is UNDEFEATED
Honestly though, how’d that D Wade statue get cleared 👎
When Dwayne Wade said “who is that guy” part of him had to be thinking, that’s really the best y’all could do 🤦♂️ pic.twitter.com/u6NwYGgWlp
— Joey Cherrey (@JCherrey) October 28, 2024
Some have compared it to the hilariously poor job someone did on a Cristiano Ronaldo statue:
D Wade Statue: “Hold my Beer” pic.twitter.com/EdtfrQEyNN
— Luis Azcona (@LuisAzcona) October 28, 2024
This was an honest reaction from the ceremony from Bam Adebayo, a player on the current Miami Heat roster, and his “friend” A’ja Wilson, the reigning WNBA MVP:
all of us after seeing that statue: pic.twitter.com/NFOFTPZBH3
— NAS🦋GIOIA (@nasgioia) October 27, 2024
Would Wade be impressed by the statue?
Did you catch the Dwyane Wade statue? 😂 That’s supposed to be him?
Looks like they might’ve just sculpted a random guy!pic.twitter.com/WUs1AI26IL
— LockerRoom RAW (@LockerRoom_RAW) October 28, 2024
Wade’s Priceless Reaction
Dwayne Wade’s stats now include 13 All-Star selections and one hideous statue. The pose is supposed to be something Wade did after a game-winning shot in 2009. But most can agree the artist fell way short in capturing his likeness. However, the funniest reaction in all of this was this shot of Wade himself looking at his new statue in Miami, probably wondering if he can get a second-chance opportunity:
DWade just taking it all in at his statue unveiling… pic.twitter.com/XnyahQzIld
— NBA (@NBA) October 27, 2024
The crazy part is one of the sculptors on Wade’s statue, Omri Amrany, was also behind the creation of Dirk Nowitzki’s statue, which is actually very good as it captures his famous shooting stance:
The Dirk Nowitzki statue is unveiled. pic.twitter.com/xPPlg0oxgg
— Grant Afseth (@GrantAfseth) December 25, 2022
It would have been great if the Wade statue also captured some of the athleticism that Flash displayed in NBA games instead of making him look like an angry old man.
Me when Popeyes messed up my order. pic.twitter.com/aZZaE4LxLf
— WillBballin 🏀 🔥 (@willbballin) October 28, 2024
When the day comes that LeBron James gets a statue in Cleveland (or Steph Curry in California), maybe they need to contract a different artist just to be safe. If we’re this surprised by the reveal, imagine how Wade felt when he saw it for the first time.
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