<body><div> MIAMI Heat legend Dwyane Wade was honored by his former team with a statue, but it didn’t go as expected. The Miami Heat unveiled his statue on Sunday night, forever cementing his legacy outside of their arena. <figure class="wp-caption alignnone" id="attachment_12768741"><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=35RzX5_0wPWFgXX00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=35RzX5_0wPWFgXX00" width="960" height="640" ><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">The Miami Heat unveiled a statue for Dwyane Wade on Sunday </figcaption> Getty </figure><figure class="wp-caption alignnone" id="attachment_12768744"><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=0LT0H4_0wPWFgXX00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=0LT0H4_0wPWFgXX00" width="640" height="960" ><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">Fans complained that the statue looked nothing like Wade </figcaption> Getty </figure><nbtemplate data-id="AdPlaceholder" data-content="JTdCJTdE"></nbtemplate> Wade shared immense amounts of gratitude outside of the arena, speaking about how much it meant to him to be immortalized with the statue. “This is crazy,” Wade 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. “I wanted to feel this, man. I wanted to look at it.” Wade also shared that he never expected to have an honor like this in his life. “I didn’t play for this,” he said. “I didn’t pick up the basketball for this. I picked up the basketball to change my family’s life.” While he was honored to receive the statue, Wade was slightly confused by the appearance of it. <nbtemplate data-id="AdPlaceholder" data-content="JTdCJTdE"></nbtemplate> When he first saw it after the unveiling he has an interesting comment about the appearance of it. “That’s crazy. I can’t believe that. Who’s that guy?” he said.  The statue, designed by Timeless&nbsp;Creations’&nbsp;Omri Amrany and Oscar León, was quick to draw criticism from fans across the league after being unveiled. “I wouldn’t be happy with that,” one fan said. “Is that Thanos?” another fan said. “That statue looks nothing like him,” a third fan said. “Did they order this off Temu?” a fourth fan said. <h3 class="article-boxout__headline"> What the new TV deal means for the NBA? </h3><nbtemplate data-id="AdPlaceholder" data-content="JTdCJTdE"></nbtemplate><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=0uMXKZ_0wPWFgXX00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=0uMXKZ_0wPWFgXX00" width="620" height="413" > By The U.S. Sun's Assistant Sports Editor Damian Burchardt. THE new TV rights deal is promising to be a humongous win for NBA players. The league is set to more than double the revenue coming from its media partners, pocketing about $6.9 billion per year, which will inevitably lead to a huge salary cap spike in 2025-26. <nbtemplate data-id="AdPlaceholder" data-content="JTdCJTdE"></nbtemplate> That is going to send the value of player contracts skyrocketing. Projected figures suggest we might see the first $100 million-per-year deal being signed soon. Currently, <a href="https://www.the-sun.com/topic/boston-celtics/" rel="nofollow"> Boston Celtics </a> All-Star Jayson Tatum is projected to earn the highest single-season salary in NBA history, collecting $71.5 million in 2029-30. If TNT Sports successfully <a href="https://www.the-sun.com/sport/11991904/tnt-sports-amazon-media-rights-inside-the-nba/" rel="nofollow"> matches one of the offers </a> to maintain its decades-long partnership with the league, hoops fans will be on the winning side too. The network’s flagship, Inside the NBA, is a <a href="https://www.the-sun.com/sport/9662618/inside-the-nba-tnt-shaquille-oneal-charles-barkley/" rel="nofollow"> one-of-a-kind sports entertainment show </a> , as evidenced by ESPN’s ongoing failure to come up with its own version of the program in recent years. The NBA wouldn’t be the same without Kenny and Ernie trying to make sense of Shaq and Chuck’s never-ending bickering every Tuesday night. <nbtemplate data-id="AdPlaceholder" data-content="JTdCJTdE"></nbtemplate> “Somebody needs to be fired for this,” a fifth fan said. Even players in the audience couldn’t believe what they were seeing after the unveiling. Heat player Bam Adebayo was in the crowd during the unveiling and had his hand over his mouth after seeing the statue. WNBA player A’Ja Wilson was sitting next to him and she had the same look on her face while looking at the statue. Wade hasn’t made any official comments on the looks of his statue, but it’s safe to say the NBA world isn’t happy. <figure class="wp-caption alignnone" id="attachment_12768750"><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=2jhzjY_0wPWFgXX00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=2jhzjY_0wPWFgXX00" width="960" height="640" ><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">Wade is a Miami Heat legend that won three rings with the team </figcaption> Getty </figure><nbtemplate data-id="AdPlaceholder" data-content="JTdCJTdE"></nbtemplate></div></body>

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MIAMI Heat legend Dwyane Wade was honored by his former team with a statue, but it didn’t go as expected. The Miami Heat unveiled his statue on Sunday night, forever cementing his legacy outside of their arena. Wade shared immense amounts of gratitude outside of the arena, speaking about how much it meant to him […]