Dwyane Wade's new statue goes viral after Miami Heat unveiling

MIAMI -- Dwyane Wade's status as a Miami Heat legend was further cemented on Sunday as the franchise unveiled an eight-foot statue of the three-time NBA champion.

Wade is the first player in Heat history to be immortalized with a statue outside of the team's Kaseya Center, with the bronze sculpture honoring his iconic 'This is my house' celebration from the double-overtime win against the Chicago Bulls in 2009.

The 42-year-old played 16 seasons in the NBA and was selected as an All-Star 13 times before retiring in 2019. Wade ranks No. 1 in Heat history for points, assists and games played, and is one of just two players to have been on all three of the franchise's title-winning teams.

Wade's remarkable career also earned him a place in the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame.

"That's crazy. I can't believe that. Who is that guy?" Wade said after the statue was unveiled. It turned out a lot of fans were also asking the same question.

Some were critical of the statue's likeness to Wade, drawing comparisons to the infamous bust of Cristiano Ronaldo that was unveiled at Madeira Airport in 2017.

One comment on an Instagram video of the unveiling said that the statue better resembled Laurence Fishburne as 'Morpheus' from the movie 'The Matrix' than Wade.

However, Will Manso, a local reporter, later posted a close-up photo of the statue on X, formerly known as Twitter, and said it "looks much better than in pictures."

Wade, for his part though, appeared in awe of the statue behind him as he gave his speech.

"This is crazy," he said. "I wanted to feel this. Life goes by so fast and it's very rare that we get to feel things because we're always off to the next thing.

"So I didn't prepare much because I wanted to feel this, man. I wanted to look at it," he added, again turning around to admire the statue.

Miami's two-day celebration of Wade will continue on Monday night when the Heat host the Detroit Pistons.