An unveiling ceremony for a new statue honoring retired Miami Heat basketball player Dwyane Wade went viral over the weekend. Installed outside of the Kaseya Center on Biscayne Boulevard, where the team plays home games, the bronze statue had the internet in stitches for taking Wade’s appearance as a mere suggestion, with some critics calling the work “Wayne Dade” and “Dwyane Wade from Temu,” among other choice observations.
On the other hand, many claimed that the statue did bear an objective likeness … to Laurence Fishburne as Morpheus in The Matrix (1999), as well as Kelsey Grammer as Frasier Crane from Frasier (1993–2004).
The statue was a joint effort by Omri Amrany and Oscar León of Studio Rotblatt Amrany, an Illinois-based sculpture atelier with myriad bronze homages of historical and cultural icons across sports, politics, and more under its belt. Amrany and León appear to be taking the criticisms on the chin — the former explained to Front Office Sports that he wants to be “an artist that creates an in-your-face response and you cannot expect all of human society will have a positive reaction.”
Wade himself, either out of genuine kindness or sheer stoicism, took the unveiling in stride, calling the sculpture “beautiful” and “one of the best statues that’s been created.” Some fans, however, have latched onto a particular sound bite during which Wade turns back at the statue and rhetorically muses “Who is that guy?” when talking about how crazy it was to have his career memorialized in such a manner.
There were some other hyper-specific comparisons thrown into the ring as well:
Some compared Amrany and León’s most recent output to the Cristiano Ronaldo bust fiasco of 2017, when the international soccer star was rendered with a bizarre smirk, asymmetrical eyes, and an uncomfortable stiffness made even more disconcerting with the elongated tree trunk of a neck.
As additional context, the specific pose referenced in the Wade statue immortalizes the MVP’s reaction to scoring the tie-breaker shot during a game against the Chicago Bulls on March 9, 2009, when he jumped onto the scorer’s table and shouted “This is my house!” to the Miami crowd in the stands after sealing the deal. Wade considered that a career-defining moment and noted that he was glad to have it immortalized during the unveiling ceremony.
“[Wade] knew exactly what he wanted,” Amrany told Front Office Sports, noting that Wade had requested that he and León immortalize the double-overtime win for the commission.
“Dwyane is part of the next generation who is getting the tribute,” Amrany continued to the sports magazine, explaining that Wade was present for the unveiling of Studio Rotblatt Amrany’s Michael Jordan statue in Chicago when he was a child. “I would like to see another 11-year-old kid with his father inspired by this statue and, 20 or 30 years from now, will have his own statue unveiled.”
Meanwhile, some have taken the liberty to Photoshop the statue’s face onto photos capturing Wade’s important moments on and off the court:
And while there’s plenty to laugh at, we’re reminded that this is only the beginning of our future in a world where arts and culture funding is the first matter on the chopping block — especially in Florida …
