Inside the design process of the Dwyane Wade statue that now stands in front of Kaseya Center

As soon as the Miami Heat unveiled Dwyane Wade’s bronze statue in front of Kaseya Center on Sunday, the critiques began coming in on social media. But the most important opinion belongs to the one who the statue depicts.

Wade is happy with how the 8-foot statue turned out. He’s also appreciative of the honor, as it’s the first Heat statue to go up at its home arena in the franchise’s 37 seasons.

“I was just like, ‘That’s beautiful,” the Heat icon said of his initial reaction to the statue after it was unveiled on Sunday during a ceremony at Kaseya Center. “Personally I’m biased, I think it’s one of the best statues that’s been created because of what it represents for us and for me.”

Heat unveils Dwyane Wade ‘This is my house’ bronze statue in front of Kaseya Center

Wade was heavily involved in the creative process of designing the statue, collaborating with Rotblatt Amrany Studio sculptors Omri Amrany and Oscar León. Wade traveled to Chicago multiple times to visit with the sculptors, offering his feedback along the way.

“It was a beautiful process to be a part of,” Wade said. “I think I visited Chicago about four times. I think I stayed in probably about four hours. Each time, it was just a great collaborative process with the Miami Heat, with Fine Art Studio and also myself and my family. So it was cool.”

The sculpture is first made with clay before the bronze is applied for the final touch.

“Dwyane was visiting multiple times,” León said, with the Heat celebrating “Dwyane Wade Statue Night” during Monday’s matchup against the Detroit Pistons at Kaseya Center. “It was that last visit with those last little tweaks that he got to see firsthand. After that, we really do kind of trust the process. The bronze brings out a level of depth and shine and this vibrancy that you cannot get in the clay. The clay absorbs a lot of light, where this bronze has this nice quality that you just can’t picture what that’s going to look like. But we trust the process.”

Wade, 42, even picked the moment in his career that the statue commemorates. There were so many iconic moments to choose from throughout his Heat career, but the one immortalized in the form of a statue in front of Kaseya Center is his “This is my house” game-winner on March 9, 2009 during his sixth NBA season.

Wade finished that memorable performance with 48 points, six rebounds, 12 assists, four steals and three blocks to lead the Heat to a double-overtime win over the Chicago Bulls at then-AmericanAirlines Arena. But Wade’s final shot of the game is what made this March night in 2009 one of the most memorable of his career, stealing the ball from then-Bulls guard John Salmons and sprinted down the court to make a one-legged game-winning three-pointer as time expired to break a 127-127 tie.

What ensued became one of the most iconic moments in Heat history, as Wade jumped on the scorer’s table to celebrate his game-winner and yelled, “This is my house!” The statue unveiled on Sunday depicts that celebration.

“The ‘This is my house’ moment is the biggest moment of my individual career,” said Wade, who is widely considered to be the greatest player in Heat history. “This was an individual moment for me to pick that. So I wanted to pick it because, obviously, we played the Chicago Bulls that time and it was my hometown team. I hit the game-winner versus them. I felt good about it, so just wanted to do that and pick that because I want to make sure that every fan when they see it, they remember my career. I think that sums up my career, that sums up this building.

“I was like, people are going to be driving and they’re going to look up and I’m going to be like: ‘This is my house.’ I was like, ‘That’s going to be pretty cool from the street.”

When did Wade realize the magnitude of that 2009 moment?

“The magnitude? Probably when I had to pick my statue moment,” Wade said. “I think that’s when I realized the magnitude of that moment. I didn’t know at that moment that was going to be a statue. I didn’t know that was going to be the moment. But what I did know is I did know I just hit a game-winner against my hometown team, the Chicago Bulls. I did know that I was a kid who always wanted to jump on the scorer’s table because I saw some of my favorites do it. So I just did that. I just said whatever came to mind and what came to mind was, ‘This is my house.’”

The detail-oriented Wade even made sure to put his own touch on the statue, paying homage to some of the most important people and places in his life: the heel of his left sneaker has his mother’s name on it, the heel of his right sneaker has his father’s name on it, “Rest in peace Hank” is the message on the sole of of his right sneaker after the 2018 death of his longtime agent Henry Thomas, and the wristband on his left arm has the address of his childhood home on it.

“Those are things that if you don’t spend a lot of time going up close, they are easy to miss, especially on the shoes,” León said. “We did not particularly highlight them. It was a little bit more of something discreet. It was just something he could point out to his friends and his family and everybody who knows him and knows where he’s been and knows his family.”

Among the statues that Rotblatt Amrany Studio has also created are “Michael Jordan Spirit” in Chicago, and the Kobe Bryant “Black Mamba” statue and the “Kobe and Gianna Bryant Memorial Statue” in Los Angeles. The cost of Wade’s statue and the others on this list were not made public.

Since Wade retired in 2019 after 16 NBA seasons, he became one of six Heat players to have his jersey retired by the organization and even had one of the streets in front of Kaseya Center renamed after him in 2020. Wade also was named to the NBA’s 75th Anniversary Team in 2021 as one of the greatest 75 players in NBA history. Wade then became the first Heat draft pick enshrined into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame when he was inducted as part of the 2023 class.

Now, Wade has the first statue in Heat history.

Regardless of what others think about the appearance of the statue, it represents something bigger to Wade. It brings a sense of finality to this chapter of his life after his playing career came to an end five years ago.

“There’s been so much in my journey for me that I’ve loved and experienced to the point where you’re a little sad because this feels like the destination,” Wade said after his statue was unveiled. “You know when you get there on your GPS, what does it say? You’ve arrived and then you’re just there. Now you got to go back.”

Drafted by Miami with the fifth overall pick in 2003, Wade is the Heat’s all-time leader in categories like points, games played, minutes played, assists and steals and is considered one of the top shooting guards in NBA history. Among his most impressive accomplishments: three championships with the Heat (2006, 2012, 2013), a Finals MVP award in 2006 and an NBA scoring title in the 2008-09 season.

“So now I feel like, man, is this the end of my basketball journey?” Wade continued. “It’s a little sad, right. But also, wow, if this is the end of my basketball journey and it ended with a statue, ended in a street name, ended in the Hall of Fame, ended in the top 75, ended in all the things, but most importantly ended in being a champion. When people speak on my name, you have to speak on me being a champion and that’s something that I always wanted.”