Dwyane Wade is now the first Miami Heat player with a statue outside the team’s arena, although many of his fans are unsure if it is a fitting tribute.
The Heat unveiled the statue Sunday, eight months after team president Pat Riley announced plans for the tribute. Wade, a 13-time All-Star, is Miami’s all-time leading scorer, and he and Udonis Haslem are the only players to have been on all three Heat teams that won NBA championships.
“This is crazy,” Wade said at the unveiling. “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. ... I wanted to feel this, man. I wanted to look at it.”
