Miami Heat Facing Backlash for Dwyane Wade’s New Statue

The Miami Heat celebrated a monumental occasion on Sunday as they unveiled a statue of Dwyane Wade outside the Kaseya Center, a tribute to the NBA Hall of Fame guard’s impact on the team and the city.

Wade played 16 years in the NBA, spending 14 and a half of those seasons with the Miami Heat. During his time in Miami, he led the team to three NBA championships and earned numerous accolades, including Finals MVP and 13 All-Star selections.

Although the Heat played their inaugural NBA season in 1988-89, it wasn’t until Wade’s fourth season in 2006-07 that they finally won the organization's first championship.

Once the statue was unveiled to the large crowd, photos quickly flooded social media, with fans criticizing the Heat for the way it looked.

"That is not Dwayne Wade," one fan said.

"Damn they did him dirty," another wrote.

"Is this Wade as a grandpa?" another added.

"I hope they kept the receipt, because I would be sending that back," said a fan.

"Ummm.. That's not D Wade 😂😂," said another.

"Maybe that's how he'll look when he's 80?" added a fan.

"They did him so dirty, man," another said.

Wade was selected fifth overall in the 2003 NBA Draft out of Marquette. Known as “Flash,” he is the Miami Heat’s all-time leading scorer with 21,556 total points .

Wade averaged 22.0 points, 4.7 rebounds, and 5.4 assists per game over his career.

He had arguably his best season in 2008-09 when he won the NBA scoring title, averaging 30.2 points per game .

Now 42 years old, the Chicago native has transitioned to the NBA's ownership side as a minority owner of the Utah Jazz.

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